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The State Through Central Bureau of Investigation vs T. Gangi Reddy @ Yerra Gangi Reddy

Criminal Appeal · 2023 INSC 44Decided 16 Jan 2023
Criminal Appeal No. 37 of 2023
M.R. Shah · C.T. Ravikumar

Background

Former MP and MLA Y.S. Vivekananda Reddy was found dead at his home in Pulivendula, Andhra Pradesh, on 15 March 2019. The State police arrested Gangi Reddy (Accused No. 1) on 28 March 2019, but failed to file a chargesheet within the 90-day limit, so on 27 June 2019 the Magistrate released him on default bail. In 2020 the High Court transferred the probe to the CBI, which filed a chargesheet in October 2021 alleging a murder conspiracy, followed by a supplementary chargesheet and an approver's statement. The CBI sought cancellation of his bail, but the trial court and then the Andhra Pradesh High Court (March 2022) refused, the High Court holding that once bail is granted by default it can never be cancelled on merits. Separately, in November 2022 the Supreme Court had transferred the trial to Hyderabad on allegations of witness tampering.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court allowed the CBI's appeal and set aside the High Court's order. Reviewing the three-judge decision in Aslam Babalal Desai (1992) along with Raghubir Singh, Rajnikant Jivanlal and Abdul Basit, it held that default bail is not a decision on merits but a consequence of the investigating agency's failure; such bail is deemed to be granted under Chapter XXXIII CrPC, which includes the power of cancellation under Sections 437(5) and 439(2). Mere filing of a chargesheet is not enough to cancel it, but where the chargesheet makes out a strong case and special reasons that the accused committed a serious non-bailable crime and deserves custody, the court can cancel default bail on merits, in addition to the usual grounds like tampering with witnesses or evidence. Any other reading would reward lethargic or deliberately delayed investigations and let even a murder accused stay free through a "convenient" investigating officer. Since the High Court had not examined the merits at all, the cancellation application was remitted, and, because the trial had already been shifted to Hyderabad, transferred to the Telangana High Court to be decided afresh.

Lesson Learnt

Getting out on "default bail" because the police missed the chargesheet deadline is not a permanent shield. Once the chargesheet is filed, a court can still cancel that bail if it shows a strong case for a serious non-bailable offence, though the filing of the chargesheet alone is not sufficient.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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