There are certain rights of an accused who is in custody pending investigation and where the investigation is not completed within the period prescribed under Section 167(2) of the Criminal Procedure Code. An indefeasible right accrues in favor of the accused for being released on bail on account of default by the investigating agency in the completion of the investigation within the period prescribed and the accused is entitled to be released on bail, if he is prepared to and furnishes the bail as directed by the Magistrate.

NDPS Bail Chandigarh Panchkula Mohali
NDPS Bail Chandigarh Panchkula Mohali

According to Section 167(2) of Criminal Procedure Code, a magistrate cannot authorize the detention of the accused person in custody for a total period exceeding, –

  • ninety days, where the investigation relates to an offence punishable with death, imprisonment for life or imprisonment for a term of not less than ten years;
  • sixty days, where the investigation relates to any other offence, and, on the expiry of the said period of ninety days, or sixty days, as the case may be, the accused person shall be released on bail if he is prepared to and does furnish bail, and every person released on bail under this sub- section shall be deemed to be so released under the provisions of Chapter XXXIII.

The Supreme Court also reiterated this law and noted that the purpose of the provision was that the basis of the material relating to investigation, the Magistrate ought to be in a position to proceed with the matter. It is thus clearly indicated that the stage of investigation ought to be confined to 90 or 60 days, as the case may be, and thereafter the issue relating to the custody of the accused ought to be dealt with by the Magistrate on the basis of the investigation.

It has been held that matters and issues relating to liberty and whether the person accused of a charge ought to be confined or not, must be decided by the Magistrate and not by the Police. Law Commission has also observed that such remand beyond the statutory period fixed under Section 167 would lead to serious abuse and therefore some time limit was required to be placed on the power of the police to obtain remand and as such the maximum period for completion of investigation was suggested.

Recently the district court of Chandigarh granted default bail to a person accused under Section 21 of NDPS Act because the police was unable to file the complete challan and the time period of 60 days lapsed. It was held that prosecution has not submitted the CFSL report along with the challan and hence the court granted him the bail.

Rest for case specific advice, one can contact Top/best/Expert NDPS Criminal Lawyer Advocate in Chandigarh Panchkula Mohali (Punjab & Haryana) for your case.

This post is written by Abhay Tripathi. For more info, dial 99888-17966.