Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 – s.167 – Default bail – FIR against appellant under provisions of IPC, Arms Act and the UAPA Act –Appellant, if entitled to default bail under s.167(2) CrPC in the facts of the case – Held: Entitled – s.167 CrPC provides for time period within which the investigation should be completed, depending upon the nature of offences – Since, liberty is a Constitutional right, time periods are specified in default of which the accused will have a right to default bail, a valuable right – On facts, FIR was filed against appellant-accused inter alia u/s.18 of the UAPA Act – Period of 180 days to file the charge sheet qua UAPA Act had however elapsed – The State cannot take advantage of the fact that there is one charge sheet and supplementary charge sheets are used to extend the time period by seeking to file supplementary charge sheet qua the offences under the UAPA Act even beyond the period specified under s.167 CrPC beyond which default bail will be admissible, i.e, the period of 180 days – Default bail under first proviso of s.167(2) CrPC is a fundamental right and not merely a statutory right as it is a procedure established by law u/Art. 21 of the Constitution – Thus a fundamental right is granted to an accused person to be released on bail once the conditions of the first proviso to s.167(2) CrPC are fulfilled – In fact an oral application for grant of default bail would suffice – The consequences of the UAPA Act are drastic in punishment and in that context, it is not a mere statutory right but part of the procedure established by law u/Art. 21 of the Constitution – IPC – Arms Act – Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 – Constitution of India, 1950 – Art.21.
Bikramjit Singh v. State of Punjab (2020) 10 SCC 616; and Vinay Tyagi v. Irshad Ali @ Deepak & Ors. (2013)
5 SCC 762 : [2012] 13 SCR 1005 – relied on.
As published in the Supreme Court Reports, Supreme Court of India. Text from the Indian Supreme Court Judgments open data set (Dattam Labs), CC BY 4.0.
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