The Supreme Court of India has ruled that an accused person cannot claim default bail on the ground that they were not provided with a copy of the chargesheet.
The ruling was delivered by a bench of Justices Sanjay Karol and Nongmeikapam Kotiswar Singh. The apex court gave this decision while upholding an order of the Bombay High Court, which had rejected an accused man’s plea for default bail.
Statutory Provisions Clarified
In its decision, the apex court clarified that failing to supply additional copies of a chargesheet under Section 193(8) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023, does not invalidate the chargesheet itself.
The court noted that the legal position under the BNSS remains the same as it was under the former Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). Specifically, the right to default bail is only triggered if the prosecution fails to file the chargesheet within the required statutory period of 60 or 90 days.
The bench stated that once a chargesheet complying with Section 193(3) of the BNSS is submitted within this statutory window, the right to default bail is terminated. The court added that procedural lapses under Section 193(8) cannot be equated with a failure to file under Section 187(3), which governs default bail.
Details Of The Cyber Fraud Case
The case originated from a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into an alleged cyber fraud operation involving approximately Rs 3.81 crore.
According to the CBI, unidentified individuals used advanced digital techniques, including impersonation and forged documents, to extort money. The agency also alleged that bank officials assisted the operation by allowing the fraudulent proceeds to be deposited into bank accounts.
High Court Decision Upheld
The accused had approached the Bombay High Court for default bail, arguing that while the CBI had filed the chargesheet within the legally mandated timeline, he had not been served with a copy of the document.
Following the High Court’s rejection, the accused appealed to the Supreme Court. The top court dismissed the plea, concluding that the lower courts had correctly ruled that the non-supply of a chargesheet copy is not a valid basis for default bail.
