The Supreme Court has made it clear that its recent interim order deferring applications filed based on the Ritu Chhabria judgment will not affect the right of courts to grant default bail. This clarification was issued by a bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud, Justices PS Narasimha, and JB Pardiwala after Senior Advocate Sidharth Luthra informed the court that his client's rights were being curtailed due to the order. The CJI offered to issue a clarification that the order will not impede courts from deciding default bail applications. Additionally, the Court stated that its interim order dated May 1, 2023, will not preclude any trial court or High Court from the grant of default bail, independent of and not relying upon the Ritu Chhabria judgment on April 26, 2023. The Court also directed that the matter be listed in July after Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta informed the Court that the Central government was in the process of filing a review against the Ritu Chhabria judgment.
The Central government had filed an application before the Supreme Court seeking the recall of a verdict which had ruled that an accused is entitled to default bail if an incomplete chargesheet is filed by the investigating agency. The Court had given this ruling in the case of Ritu Chhabaria v. Union of India on April 26, stating that default bail under the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) is a fundamental right that cannot be denied by filing chargesheets before the investigation is complete. The government sought a recall of this judgment, arguing that it failed to consider the prior binding decision of a co-equal bench in Dinesh Dalmia, which had held the field for the past 16 years. In the Dalmia case, the Supreme Court had held that the court which had taken cognizance of the offence may grant police custody during further investigation, subject to the fulfillment of the requirements and the limitation under Section 167(2) CrPC. On Monday, a Bench headed by the Chief Justice of India ordered that any other applications filed before any other court on the basis of the Ritu Chhabaria judgment shall be deferred beyond May 4, 2023.
TAGS: Central government recall verdict default bail incomplete chargesheet investigating agency Ritu Chhabaria Criminal Procedure Code fundamental right chargesheets investigation Dinesh Dalmia co-equal bench police custody cognizance requirements Section 167(2) CrPC Bench Chief Justice of India applications.
