Cognizable vs Non-Cognizable offences
Indian law divides all criminal offences into two broad categories based on their seriousness:
Cognizable offences include serious matters like theft, cheating, assault causing grievous hurt, and robbery. Police have a legal duty to investigate these immediately upon receiving information.
Non-Cognizable offences include minor disputes, simple verbal altercations, minor trespass, and petty scuffles. For these, police cannot investigate or arrest without specific directions from a Judicial Magistrate.
What is an NC (Non-Cognizable Report)?
When you report a non-cognizable matter, the police officer enters the substance of the complaint in a Non-Cognizable Register (often called an NC or NCR) and gives you a copy.
Under Section 174 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (formerly Section 155 CrPC), the officer advises the complainant to approach the local Magistrate court to pursue the matter further.
Can an NC turn into an FIR?
An NC can lead to a formal investigation in two situations:
- The complainant approaches the Judicial Magistrate, who examines the matter and directs the police to investigate under Section 175(3) of the BNSS (formerly Section 156(3) CrPC).
- If an incident involves both cognizable and non-cognizable offences, the law treats the entire case as cognizable, and police register an FIR.
Summary of differences
An FIR covers cognizable offences, requires police to investigate immediately, entitles the informant to a free copy, and appears on public citizen portals where the state publishes records.
An NC covers non-cognizable offences, permits no police investigation without a Magistrate's order, is recorded in the station diary, and is not published on public FIR portals.
Why searching an NC number on an FIR portal returns empty results
State police citizen portals and FIRSetu exclusively query First Information Report databases. Non-Cognizable Reports are recorded in the station's internal Non-Cognizable Register under Section 174 of the BNSS.
Because NCs are station diary records that do not authorize an investigation without a court order, they are not published on public internet portals. If an officer gave you a slip marked 'NC No. 45/2026', searching for 45 on an FIR search portal will return no result or an unrelated FIR. The stamped slip issued at the station is your official record of the NC.
This is a description of the public process, not legal advice. For advice about your own case, speak to a lawyer or the police station handling it.