FILE G · GLOSSARY · Magisterial & law-and-order
Inquest
MEANING
The on-the-spot enquiry into an unnatural death — police-led under BNSS 194, magistrate-led under BNSS 196.
The inquest panchanama records the body's condition and apparent cause before witnesses. Executive Magistrates hold inquiries into custodial deaths, dowry-period deaths and police-action deaths.