Bail by default if charge sheet not filed on time, stresses SC

NEW DELHI : The Supreme Court on Monday stressed that an accused becomes entitled to default bail under the law if the agency fails in presenting its charge sheet within these 60 days, and held that the window starts on the day the accused is remanded to custody and not the day after.

- Utkarsh Anand

A three-judge bench led by justice KM Joseph delivered the authoritative ruling on the point of law as it dismissed the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) appeal against the grant of default bail to former Dewan Housing Finance Corporation (DHFL) promoters Kapil Wadhawan and Dheeraj Wadhawan in a money laundering case in connection with the Yes Bank scam. The bench, which included justices Hrishikesh Roy and BV Nagarathna, declared that for considering a claim for default bail, the day of remand is to be included while computing the period of 60 or 90 days for the agency to conclude its probe and present a charge sheet.

"The remand period will be calculated from the date when the magistrate remanded the accused... in other words, an accused becomes entitled to default bail if the charge sheet is not filed before the 61st or the 91st day of the remand, as contemplated in Section 167 (2)(a)(ii) of the CrPC," said justice Roy, reading out the operative part of the verdict. The detailed judgment is yet to be released.