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2023 Supreme(SC) 416

KRISHNA MURARI, C. T. RAVIKUMAR
Ritu Chhabaria – Appellant
Versus
Union of India – Respondent


Advocates appeared:
For the Petitioner(s) Mr. Santosh Sachin, AOR Dr. Sujay Kantawala, Adv. Mr. Pranay Chitale, Adv. Mr. Vibhav Krishna, Adv.
For the Respondent(s): Mr. K M Nataraj, A.S.G. Mr. B K Satija, Adv. Ms. Indira Bhakar, Adv. Mr. Vatsal Joshi, Adv. Mr. Sharath Namibian, Adv. Mr. Chitransh Sharma, Adv. Mr. Nakul Chengappa, Adv. Mr. Anuj Srinivas Udupa, Adv. Mr. Pratyush Shrivastava, Adv. Mr. Vinayak Sharma, Adv. Mr. Arvind Kumar Sharma, AOR

Judgement Key Points

Certainly. Based on the provided legal document, the key points are as follows:

  1. The filing of a charge-sheet or prosecution complaint before the completion of investigation is not permissible solely to deprive an accused of their right to default bail under Section 167(2) of the Cr.P.C. (!)

  2. If a charge-sheet is filed without completing the investigation, it does not extinguish the accused’s right to default bail under Section 167(2) of the Cr.P.C. (!)

  3. The trial court cannot continue to remand an accused beyond the maximum stipulated period if the investigation is still pending, especially when such remand is used to obstruct the right to default bail. The court is required to offer default bail in such circumstances. (!)

  4. The right to default bail under Section 167(2) of the Cr.P.C. is a fundamental right that flows from the constitutional guarantee of personal liberty, and its violation can be directly challenged under the constitutional remedy provided by Article 32 of the Constitution of India. (!) (!)

  5. The process of remand and custody must be exercised with caution due to the imbalance of power between the investigating agency and the accused, with safeguards in place to prevent harassment and arbitrary detention. (!) (!)

  6. Filing supplementary or incomplete charge-sheets during investigation with the intent to extend custody beyond the permissible period and to deny the right to default bail is unlawful. Such actions violate the statutory and constitutional rights of the accused. (!) (!) (!)

  7. The court emphasizes that the enforcement of fundamental rights, especially those related to personal liberty, is a core function, and procedural safeguards must be upheld to prevent abuse of power by the state. (!) (!)

  8. In the case at hand, the continued detention of the accused during pending investigation, despite the filing of incomplete charge-sheets aimed at preventing default bail, was found to be unlawful and arbitrary. The interim bail granted earlier was made absolute, and the petition was disposed of accordingly. (!) (!) (!)

Please let me know if you need a more detailed analysis or specific legal advice related to this case.


JUDGMENT :

Krishna Murari, J.

1. The present writ petition under Article 32 of the Constitution of India has been filed by the writ petitioner herein seeking the release of her husband on default bail. The writ petition also raises an issue of grave importance of personal liberty enshrined under Article 21 of the Constitution of India.

FACTS

2. Briefly, the facts relevant to the present writ petition are that an FIR was lodged under Section 120(B) read with Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (for short, ‘IPC’) along with Sections 7, 12 and 13(2) read with Section 13(1)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, wherein the writ petitioner’s husband was not named.

3. Subsequently, two supplementary charge-sheets were filed, wherein the writ petitioner’s husband (hereinafter referred to as “accused”) was made a prosecution witness in the supplementary charge-sheet dated 26.05.2020. Multiple other supplementary charge-sheets were later filed, and the accused was not named in any of the said charge-sheets.

4. The investigation was then transferred to another investigating officer, and the accused was then arrested by CBI and was remanded to custody on 28.04.2022. Multiple other su


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