NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday held that an accused cannot claim default bail merely because a copy of the chargesheet was not supplied to him. A bench of Justices Sanjay Karol and Nongmeikapam Kotiswar Singh delivered the verdict while dismissing an appeal against a Bombay High Court order that had refused default bail to a man on the same ground.
The SC said that non-filing of additional copies of the chargesheet as required under Section 193(8) of the BNSS would not invalidate the chargesheet itself.
The matter arose from an FIR lodged in Maharashtra under the BNS and other laws.
After the special court turned down his plea for statutory bail, the accused approached the High Court, arguing that since he was not given a copy of the chargesheet filed within 90 days, the filing was incomplete.
Rejecting the contention, the SC ruled that the right to default bail under Section 187(3) of the BNSS is triggered only when the chargesheet is not submitted within the stipulated 60 or 90 days.
“The moment the chargesheet is filed before the competent court within time, the indefeasible right of the accused ceases. Non-service of a copy is a procedural lapse and can’t resurrect the right to statutory bail,” the bench noted.
The SC said Section 230 of the BNSS entitles an accused to a copy of the chargesheet for preparing his defence, but the remedy for non-supply is to seek directions from the trial court. “The filing of the chargesheet and the supply of its copy are distinct obligations. Breach of the latter does not affect the validity of the former,” it observed.
Affirming the High Court’s decision, the bench directed the trial court to furnish a copy of the chargesheet to the accused within one week.
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