Hyderabad, Nov. 8 -- The Telangana High Court has set aside more than 500 cognisance orders passed by magistrates since January this year, pulling up trial courts for taking cognisance of offences "by using rubber stamps" without applying their minds.

A cognisance order is an official judicial decision where a magistrate or judge applies their judicial mind to the facts of a case to officially recognise that a suspected offense has been committed and decide to start criminal proceedings.

Justice J Sreenivas Rao made the remarks in an order dated October 29 on a petition filed by the complainant in a Gachibowli assault case. He directed that the order be circulated to all magistrates in the state. He also asked the Telangana State Judici...