( 1 ) THE short question which arises for determination in this case is whether an accused person can be remanded to custody for a period beyond 15 days of his arrest in the absence of a police report commonly known as chargesheet under Section 173 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (herein- after referred to as the Code ). According to the petitioner s counsel unless a chargesheet is submitted a criminal court has no power to remand an accused to custody after 15 days of his arrest and the accused in such an event must be released on bail. As against that the submission made on behalf of the State is that an accused can be remanded to custody by the Court having jurisdiction in the matter under Section 344 of the Code and it is not obligatory to release the accused on bail after 15 days of his arrest even though the charge-sheet has not been put in the Court. The question has arisen in the following circumstances:

( 2 ) THE dead bady of Sarjeevan Parkash alias Kaka was found in the field in the jurisdiction of Timarpur police post on the morning of September 5, 1969. Ajit Singh and Shankar petitioners were arrested by the police on September 17, 1969 under Section 302, r