Summary
The High Court granted statutory bail because cognizance of an SFIO complaint had not been taken within sixty days, although the complaint had been filed within that period. Applying Bhikamchand Jain, the Court set aside the bail order. Timely filing satisfies the relevant default-bail requirement; cognizance need not also occur within that period. The cited precedents did not conflict on this issue, and no larger-Bench reference was required.
Issues
- Whether absence of cognizance within the statutory period entitles an accused to default bail despite timely filing of the complaint.
- Whether the cited default-bail precedents required a larger-Bench reference.
Provisions considered
- Section 167(2), proviso (a), Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973Filing the complaint within the applicable statutory period prevented default bail on the sole ground that cognizance was taken later. (¶¶ 8-10, 15)
Held
- The complaint was undisputedly filed before expiry of the applicable sixty-day period. The High Court erred in treating the absence of cognizance within that period as an independent ground for statutory bail. (¶¶ 3, 7-10, 15)
- Bhikamchand Jain established that timely filing of the charge-sheet is sufficient for this purpose. The accused remains in the Magistrate’s custody pending cognizance; the trying court thereafter assumes custody for remand during trial. There is no custody gap requiring release merely because cognizance is delayed. (¶¶ 9-10, 15)
- The references to cognizance in Madar Sheikh and M. Ravindran reflected their facts, rather than an additional deadline for cognizance. Ravindran also protected a default-bail right already availed of before the subsequent complaint was filed. Those decisions and Sanjay Dutt did not conflict with Bhikamchand Jain on the present issue. (¶¶ 11-13, 15)
- The existing larger-Bench reference concerned inclusion or exclusion of the remand date in computing the statutory period. It did not necessitate referring this distinct question. (¶ 14)
- SFIO’s appeals were allowed and the High Court’s order granting statutory bail was set aside. (¶ 15-16)
Result
Appeals allowed; High Court order granting statutory bail set aside because the complaint was filed within the applicable statutory period. No larger-Bench reference required.