Section 174 to 176 of Crpc !! Inquest Report!!

An inquest report is made primarily to look into the causes of unnatural death. In the case of unnatural death, the circumstances have to be examined. The State owes a duty to its citizens to ensure their health and life. When a crime is committed, it is committed against the State. In the circumstances of unnatural death, it is the duty of the State to ascertain the cause of death and accordingly take further measures. This is the purpose of an inquest report, to establish facts that can be used to apprehend and punish the offender.

Under Section 174 of the Code, the police have been empowered to enquire and report on cases of unnatural death. The first clause to the provision states that when an officer-in-charge of a police station or some police officer who is empowered by the State Government receives information that:

A person has committed suicide;

A person has been killed by another;

A person has been killed by an animal;

A person has been killed by machinery;

A person has been killed by an accident;

A person has died under such circumstances which raise a reasonable suspicion that some other person has committed an offence.

In the aforementioned cases, the police officer should immediately notify the nearest Executive Magistrate who is empowered to hold inquests. Further, he shall proceed to the place where the body of the deceased person is and in the presence of two or more respectable residents of the neighbourhood, such police officer shall make an investigation and prepare a report.
The statements of the witnesses which are to be so recorded during the course of the investigation are within the inhibition of Section 162 of the Code. The statement recorded under this section cannot be used as a substantive piece of evidence. It can be only used to corroborate or contradict the person making it at the trial. But, there are no restrictions on the powers of the police officers from obtaining the signatures of the witnesses on their respective statements. 

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