default bail
Under s.187(3) BNSS (old s.167(2) CrPC), a Magistrate cannot authorise detention during investigation beyond 90 days (offences punishable with death, life imprisonment or at least ten years) or 60 days (other offences). If the chargesheet is not filed within that period, the accused must be released on bail if he is prepared to and does furnish bail. Special laws, such as the UAPA and NDPS Act, extend the period.
The right is indefeasible once it accrues and the accused applies for it before the chargesheet is filed; the prosecution cannot defeat it by filing the chargesheet afterwards (Uday Mohanlal Acharya; M. Ravindran). It is lost if not claimed before the chargesheet comes in.
Example
The accused applied on day 61 before any chargesheet was filed, so his right to default bail under s.187(3) BNSS had become indefeasible.
In Indian law
- Section 187(3) BNSS (old s.167(2) CrPC)
- Uday Mohanlal Acharya v. State of Maharashtra, 2001 INSC 184
- M. Ravindran v. Intelligence Officer, DRI, 2020 INSC 608
See also
Read more in the study notes
- Arrest: concept, procedure, safeguards, proclamation and handcuffing (Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita)
- Bail, anticipatory bail and bonds (Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita)
- Bail applications: regular, default and anticipatory bail under the BNSS (Drafting, Pleading and Conveyance)
- The research problem, review of literature and hypothesis (Research Methodology)