In India, a police inquest into an unattended natural or unnatural death is legally conducted by which authority?

• A The officer in charge of the nearest police station, under Section 174 of the Criminal Procedure Code ✓
• B The district medical officer of health
• C The civil surgeon of the district hospital
• D The magistrate of the district, under Section 174 of the Criminal Procedure Code

Explanation

Under Section 174 of the Criminal Procedure Code, the officer in charge of the police station conducts the police inquest, examines witnesses, records the report in the prescribed form and sends the body for postmortem examination. The magistrate inquest is a separate procedure carried out under Section 176 CrPC in cases of custodial or suspicious death, so attributing Section 174 to a magistrate makes option D wrong. Doctors participate in inquests only as witnesses or forensic pathologists, never as conducting authorities.

Reference: Parikh's Textbook of Medical Jurisprudence, Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, 7th ed.

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