Magistrate’s Power of Taking Cognizance: A Legal and Judicial Analysis

The word cognizance has its origin from the old French term “connaissance” which means “recognition, wisdom, knowledge, and familiarity” and also from the word “conoistre” which means “to know”. It is also derived from the Latin word “cognosis” where the con means ‘with’ and gnosis means ‘to know’. The word Cognizance has not been defined in the criminal procedure code, but the meaning of cognizance is derived from the number of precedents and judicial pronouncements. The dictionary meaning of cognizance is “taking account of, taking note of, to gain knowledge about, to have knowledge regarding something”. This paper deals with the legal analysis of the statutory provisions and the judicial interpretations of the term cognizance and how the magistrates exercise their power to take cognizance.