Statutory Bail
The grant of Bail is almost always dependent on merit except in cases of statutory or default bail, which is covered in section 167(2) of the Criminal Code of Procedure, 1973 where a trial Court grants bail to the applicant upon failure of the police to submit a charge-sheet within the stipulated time after the arrest. The subsection is further bifurcated to provide for entitlements of an accused of obtaining the bail.
Time Period
Subsection (a) (i) of this Section provides that 90 days is the maximum permissible custody. When the offense being investigated is an offense punishable with death or imprisonment or imprisonment not less than 10 years. Subsection (ii) of this section provides 60 days is the maximum permissible custody. Where offense is punishable with punishment for less than 10 years, the maximum time is 60 days.
An important point by the Supreme Court in the matter is that even if the punishment may extend to 10 years. The maximum time period for such offenses will remain 60 days. Only offences for which the minimum sentence is 10 years can the time period be 90 days.
Rakesh Kumar Paul vs State of Assam (2017)
In the case of Rakesh Kumar Paul vs State of Assam (2017), the accused charged under section13(1) of the Prevention and Corruption Act for which punishment maximum of 10 years. The state argued that the maximum date for filing default bail would start after 90 days. However, Justice Madan Bhimrao Lokur of the Honorable Supreme Court held that in such a case, the date of filing default bail would be held at 60 days. Because the punishment in the case was at a maximum of 10 years.
No case for Grant of a default bail can be filed under section 167 of the code. Because of the charge sheet has filed by the police before the expiration of 60 or 90 days. Default bail is a sort of punitive response to the police for not filing the charge sheet in time after the first remand of the accused.
-By Aryan Dhingra
B.B.A LLB 2nd Year student of OP Jindal Global University