State Takes Time To File Supplementary Charge Sheet, Results In Default Bail Of The Accused

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• The accused Fakhrey Alam was charged under various sections of IPC and Arms Act also under Section 18 of UAPA Act, 1967.
• It was noted by the court that there was a lapse of 211 days in filing the supplementary charge sheet under UAPA act.
• This resulted in the accused getting a default bail as the charge sheet wasn’t filed within 180 days.

BACKGROUND DETAILS

• The Lucknow police was granted 180 days to file charge sheet as per section 167 (2) of Cr.PC.
• The police did file the charge sheet under the aforesaid provisions except under the UAPA Act.
• The accused contended that the supplementary charge sheet was filed after 180 days and thus he was entitled to bail.

FURTHER DETAILS

• The Supreme Court observed that the time period specified under Cr.PC cannot be extended while seeking to file supplementary charge sheet under UAPA Act.
• Also the court pointed out that the state cannot take advantage of the fact that in one case there is 1 charge sheet and supplementary charge sheets are used to extend the time period.
• The court while referring to the case of Bikramjit Singh v. State of Punjab (2020) observed that default bail under section 167(2) of Cr.PC is a fundamental right and not merely a statutory right.

CONCLUSION

As it has been interpreted by the court that a fundamental right is granted to an accused person to be released on bail once the conditions of 1st proviso of section 167(2) of Cr.PC is fulfilled. Infact in the majority judgement of the supreme court it has been held that an oral application for grant of default bail would also suffice. This shows that default bail is considered to be part of the procedure established by law under article 21 of the constitution.

What do you think about the order of the Court? Let us know in the comments section below!