Question

As per the Criminal Procedure Code, during investigation a search can be conducted without warrant by

• A. Judicial officer
• B. Any Person
• C. The investigating officer
• D. Any police officer

Hint:

The power of search without a warrant under Section 165 CrPC is an exception to the general rule and is vested specifically with an investigating officer or an officer in charge of a police station. Remember the key condition: urgency and the risk of evidence being lost.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is C

Step 1: Understanding the Concept:
The question is about the power to conduct a search without a warrant during the investigation phase of a criminal case, as provided under the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).
Step 2: Key Formula or Approach:
The general rule is that a search of a place requires a search warrant issued by a court. However, the CrPC provides an important exception to this rule during an investigation to prevent the destruction or concealment of evidence.
The relevant provision is Section 165 of the CrPC.
Section 165. Search by police officer.— (1) "Whenever an officer in charge of a police station or a police officer making an investigation has reasonable grounds for believing that anything necessary for the purposes of an investigation... may be found in any place... and that such thing cannot in his opinion be otherwise obtained without undue delay, such officer may... search, or cause search to be made, for such thing in any place..."
Step 3: Detailed Explanation:
Section 165 specifically empowers either an officer in charge of a police station or an investigating officer to conduct a search without a warrant if they believe evidence might be lost by the time a warrant is obtained. The power is not given to "any police officer" (it's restricted) or "any person" or a "judicial officer" (who issues warrants, but doesn't conduct searches without them). Therefore, "The investigating officer" is the most accurate answer.
Step 4: Final Answer:
A search can be conducted without a warrant by The investigating officer.

Answer 2

The question asks who specifically may conduct a search without a warrant during a criminal investigation, so each option should be tested against the precise wording of Section 165 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

1. Judicial officer: A judicial officer, such as a magistrate, is the authority who ordinarily issues a search warrant under other provisions of the CrPC; a magistrate does not personally conduct searches during a police investigation, so this option describes the wrong actor entirely.
2. Any Person: Conducting a search of premises is a coercive power that the law confines to specific officials for good reason, to prevent abuse; it is never thrown open to any member of the public, so this option cannot be correct.
3. The investigating officer: Section 165 specifically empowers an officer in charge of a police station, or a police officer making the investigation, who has reasonable grounds to believe that something necessary for the investigation may be found in a place and cannot be obtained without undue delay, to search that place without first obtaining a warrant. This is precisely the officer conducting the investigation, matching the option exactly.
4. Any police officer: This overstates the power; Section 165 does not grant this warrantless search power to every police officer in general, but specifically to the officer in charge of the police station or the officer actually conducting the investigation, a narrower class than "any" police officer.

Since the power under Section 165 is deliberately confined to the officer conducting the investigation rather than thrown open more broadly or vested in a judicial authority, only that option is accurate.

Therefore, the correct answer is The investigating officer.