Default bail granted to accused can be cancelled if strong case made out on filing of charge sheet: SC

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday held that default bail granted to an accused can be cancelled on merits if a strong case is made out on filing of the charge sheet on conclusion of investigations and there are "special reasons".

Rejecting the submission that bail cannot be cancelled on merits once an accused is released on default bail, the court said if the argument is accepted then this would be giving a "premium" to lethargic probe and frustrate the justice.

A bench of Justices M R Shah and C T Ravikumar said mere filing of charge sheet will not result in cancellation of the bail unless the court is satisfied that a strong case is made out that the accused has committed a non bailable offence.

"Mere filing of the charge sheet subsequent to a person is released on default bail under Section 167(2) CrPC cannot be a ground to cancel the bail of a person, who is released on default bail.

"However, on filing of the charge sheet on conclusion of the investigation, if a strong case is made out and on merits, it is found that he has committed a non-bailable offence/crime, on the special reasons/grounds and considering Section 437(5) and Section 439(2) CrPC, over and above other grounds on which the bail to a person, who is released on bail can be cancelled on merits," the bench said.

Under section 167 (2) of the CrPC, an accused becomes entitled to grant of statutory bail if the probe agency fails to file the charge sheet in the trial court within the stipulated period of either 60 or 90 days.

The top court said there is no absolute bar that once a person is released on default bail under Section 167(2) CrPC, his bail cannot be cancelled on merits.

It said the bail granted to an accused can be cancelled on other general grounds like tampering with the evidence/witnesses, not cooperating with the investigating agency and/or not cooperating with the concerned trial court etc.

"The submission that once an accused is released on default bail under Section 167(2) CrPC, his bail cannot be cancelled on merits is accepted, in that case, it will be giving a premium to the lethargic and/or negligence, may be in a given case of deliberate attempt on the part of the investigating agency not to file the charge sheet within the prescribed time period."

The top court said even if the accused has committed a very serious offence like under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act(NDPS) or murder and he manages through a convenient investigating officer not to file the charge sheet within the prescribed time limit and gets released, it may lead to giving a premium to illegality and/or dishonesty.

The observations by the court came while hearing an appeal filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation(CBI) seeking cancellation of the bail to Erra Gangi Reddy in connection with the murder of former Andhra Pradesh Minister Y S Vivekananda Reddy.

The top court transferred the matter to the High Court of Telangana at Hyderabad and directed it to consider, decide and dispose of the application for cancellation of the bail on merits and in light of the observations made.

"As the High Court has not at all considered on merits the application for cancellation of the bail, the matter is to be remitted to the High Court for considering the said application afresh in accordance with law and on merits and in light of the observations made," it said.

Vivekananda Reddy, younger brother of late Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy and uncle of incumbent Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, was found murdered at his residence in Pulivendula on March 15, 2019.