Supreme Court Referred To Larger Bench: Can Accused Get Default Bail If FSL Report Is Not Submitted With Chargesheet Within Prescribed Time? | NDPS Act

The Supreme Court in the case Hanif Ansari Vs state (Govt of NCT of Delhi) observed and has referred to a larger bench the question as to whether a person who is being accused of committing offences as stated under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act 1985 is entitled to default bail on the failure of the prosecution to furnish the report of the Forensic Science Laboratory along with the chargesheet within the prescribed time.

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The two-judge bench comprising Justice Aniruddha Bose and Justice PV Sanjay Kumar in the case observed and has referred the question to a larger bench in view of the diversity of views expressed by different benches.

In the present case, the issue raised before the court was whether non-furnishing of the FSL report with the chargesheet, within the prescribed time, would entitle an accused to default bail on the ground that it would be an incomplete chargesheet without such a report.