P.N.PRAKASH - (1.) Regular case should be registered under the following circumstances:- a) On the orders of the Supreme Court/High Court; b) On the request of the State Government; c) On the orders of the DGP/CB CID Headquarters." 6. The Crime Branch Manual has been approved by the Government as could be seen from G.O.Ms. No. 185, Home (Pol.VIII) Department dated 16.02.2004 which reads as under: "ORDER: The Crime Branch, CID manual of Police Department sent by the Director General of Police in his letter read above is approved and forwarded to him for Printing in the Printing Press in the Office of the Director General of Police and for supply free of cost. The proof shall be sent to the Inspector General of Police, Crime, for correction. The Inspector General of Police (Crime) is also requested to make indent for No.of copies to be supplied. (ORDER OF THE GOVERNOR) SYED MUNIR HODA SECRETARY TO GOVERNMENT 7. Now it may be apposite to extract Section 156 Cr.P.C.: "156. Police officer's power to investigate cognisable cases (1) Any officer in charge of a police station may, without the order of a Magistrate, investigate any cognisable case which a Court having jurisdiction over the local area within the limits of such station would have power to inquire into or try under the provisions of Chapter XIII (2) No proceeding of a police officer in any such case shall at any stage be called in question on the ground that the case was one which such officer was not empowered under this section to investigate (3) Any Magistrate empowered under section 190 may order such an investigation as above-mentioned." 8. Local area over which a Magistrate has jurisdiction is traceable to Section 2(j) of the Code, which reads as follows: "(j) "local jurisdiction", in relation to a Court or Magistrate, means the local area within which the Court or Magistrate may exercise all or any of its or his powers under this Code and such local area may comprise the whole of the State, or any part of the State, as the State Government may, by notification, specify." 9. From an anyalysis of these provisions, it is abundantly clear that an Officer-in-charge of a Police Station can investigate a cognisable offence which can be enquired into or tried by a Magistrate having jurisdiction over the area. The expression "such an investigation as above-mentioned" employed in Section 156(3) Cr.P.C. does not give wholesale power to a Magistrate to direct the Officer in-charge of any Police Station to investigate an offence. The Magistrate can only order the Officer-in-charge of a Police Station that falls within his territorial jurisdiction to investigate an offence. This issue has been clearly settled by the Supreme Court in Central Bureau of Investigation, Jaipur v. State of Rajasthan [(2001) Crl.L.J. 968]. Paragraphs 8 and 15 from the said ruling will clinch the issue beyond any pale of doubt. "8. It is clear that a place or post declared by the Government as police station, must have a police officer-in-charge of it and if he, for any reason, is absent in the station house, the officer who is in next junior rank present in the police station, shall perform the function as officer-in-charge of that police station. The primary responsibility for conducting investigation into offences in cognisable cases vests with such police officer. Section 156(3) of the code empowers a Magistrate to direct such officer-in-charge of the police station to investigate any cognisable case over which such magistrate has jurisdiction. 15. As the present discussion is restricted to the question whether a Magistrate can direct the CBI to conduct investigation in exercise of his powers under Section 156(3) of the code it is unnecessary for us to travel beyond the scope of that issue. We, therefore, reiterate that the magisterial power cannot be stretched under the said sub section beyond directing the officer-in-charge of a police station to conduct the investigation." 10. Very recently in Chandra Babu @ Moses v. State through Inspector of Police [2015 (7) Scale 529] the Hon'ble Supreme Court had on occasion to consider the power of a Magistrate under Section 173(8) Cr.P.C. to direct the CB CID to conduct further investigation. While discussing this aspect, the Hon'ble Supreme Court has stated thus: "21.We respectfully concur with the said view. As we have already indicated, the learned Chief Judicial Magistrate has basically directed for further investigation. The said part of the order cannot be found fault with, but an eloquent one, he could not have directed another investigating agency to investigate as that would not be within the sphere of further investigation and, in any case, he does not have the jurisdiction to direct reinvestigation by another agency." 11. Thus the CB CID is an elite force within the police Department that has been constituted to investigate cases, on the orders of Supreme Court, High Court, Government and Director General of Police. Therefore, the direction issued by the Magistrate to the CB CID under Section 156(3) Cr.P.C. to investigate is not sustainable. In the result, Crl.R.C.No.496 of 2015 is allowed. In Crl.O.P. No.9542 of 2015, this Court has already passed orders on 23.07.2015 directing the CB CID to investigate the complaint given by the petitioner, as the allegations therein involve falsification of Court seals and fabrication of Court orders. In view of the above, Crl.O.P. No.9542 of 2015 is closed. Consequently, connected miscellaneous petition is closed. Crl. R.C. No. 496 of 2015 is Allowed.;