Magistrate should en large the accused on bail if investigation is not completed within 60 days.

Ratnavel Pandian, J.

1. This revision is preferred by accused 1 to 4 in Crime No. 49/81 of Ponneri Police Station, registered under Sections 448, 341 and 323, I.P.C. challenging the legality of the order passed by the learned Judicial Second Class Magistrate, Ponneri, before whom the above said case is pending, rejecting the prayer of the accused in Crl. M. P. No. 1216/82 seeking the stoppage of further proceedings in the matter on the ground that the investigation in that case, which is a summons case, had not been concluded within a period of six months from the date of their arrest, as contemplated under Section 167 (5), Cr. P. C and seeking an order striking off the charge-sheet and discharging the accused.

2. The learned Magistrate has dismissed the said application on the following grounds, viz., (1) that the perusal of the charge-sheet discloses that the occurrence took place on 2-3-1981 and that the investigating officer had completed his investigation by 6-5-1981, (2) that the delay in sending the charge-sheet and the records to the Court on 5-3-1982 (sic 9-3-82) had occasioned due to the fact that the medical officer had given her opinion about the nature of the injury by 25-2-1982 and therefore the said delay on the part of the medical officer could not be said to be a delay on the part of the investigating officer prolonging the investigation beyond a period of six months and consequently held that the proceedings were not in derogation of the statutory directions envisaged in Section 167 (5). It is as against the said order, the present revision is filed.

3. Mr. Sam V. Chelliah, learned Counsel appearing on behalf of the revision petitioners submits that as the prosecution in this case relates to a summons case and as the investigating officer has not obtained an order extending the time for continuing the investigation after the lapse of six months from the date of arrest of the petitioners-accused, as contemplated under Section 167 (5), Cr. P.C. the investigation conducted after the lapse of the statutory period of six months from the date of arrest of the petitioners without the permission of the Court, culminating in the laying of the charge-sheet, should be held to be non est in the eye of law and hence the entire proceedings before the Court below should be quashed.

4. The facts of the case, as found from the order of the Court below disclose that the offence took place on 2-3-1981 and the charge-sheet purported to have been signed on 6-5-1981 was submitted by the investigating officer after obtaining the opinion of the medical officer on 25-2-1982 about the nature of the injury, to the Court only on 5-3-1982 (sic 9-3-82). (It is seen from the charge-sheet as well as the remand report that of the petitioners-accused, accused-3 and 4 were arrested by the police on 9-3-1981 and the other two surrendered before the Court).

5. From the above order, it is clear that even though the charge-sheet is purported to have been signed by the investigating officer on 6-5-1981 he obtained the opinion of the medical officer only on 25-2-1982 and submitted the charge-sheet only on 9-3-1982. Since the investigating officer had indisputably collected the evidence viz. the opinion of the medical officer about the nature of the Injury only on 25-2-1982, it should be deemed that the investigation had continued till 25-2-1982 and the investigation had reached its finality only thereafter and under these circumstances the mere fact that the charge-sheet bears the signature of the investigating officer under the date 6-5-1981 would not lead to any conclusion that the investigation had already been over. Even if the investigating officer had signed the charge-sheet on 6-5-1981 before the collection of evidence, such a charge-sheet cannot be held to be his final report within the meaning of Section 173 (2), Cr. P.C. and therefore in the present case, as rightly pointed out by the learned Counsel for the petitioners, the investigation