Ahmedabad: The Gujarat high court granted default bail to two individuals booked under the GujCTOC Act, ordering their release from prison nearly three years after their arrest. This decision came after the investigator failed to file a chargesheet within the stipulated time period, and the trial court extended the probe period without informing the accused.
The trial court denied default bail without following proper procedure. The HC stated, “When any human right; a Constitutional fundamental right of a person is curtailed, then the statute which curtails such right must be read strictly.”
This case involved Mohsin Malek and Shahrukh Qadri who were arrested by Junagadh C Division Police Station in May 2022 on charges of kidnapping and demanding ransom. Later, charges under the Gujarat Control of Terrorism and Organised Crime (GujCTOC) Act were invoked, considering their criminal antecedents.
Ninety days after their arrest, the police could not file a chargesheet and requested the special GujCTOC court in Junagadh to extend the investigation period for another 90 days. The court did not issue notice to the accused, who were in custody, or inform them about this demand by the investigator. The investigation period was extended for another 90 days, giving the investigator more time to file the chargesheet.
After remaining in jail for a little over four months, Malek and Qadri filed applications for default bail because a chargesheet was not filed against them in the statutory 90-day period. The court refused to grant them default bail on the grounds that the probe period was extended.
The accused approached the HC in 2023, complaining that the investigation period was extended without informing them. Therefore, they were eligible for default bail under Section 167(2) of the CrPC for non-filing of the chargesheet.
After hearing the case, Justice D A Joshi on Tuesday ordered the release of both accused from jail on default bail. The HC stated, “In the instant case, it is an uncontroverted fact that the applicants applied for default bail as the chargesheet as provided under Section 167 of the CrPC was not filed within the time-bound manner. Not only that, it is also an admitted position of fact, and there is no justifiable reason put forth by the prosecution that why the applicants were not produced before the court concerned and informed about any application being made by the prosecuting agency for extension of the time period of investigation and why no notice was given to the accused as contemplated under the statute.”