No default bail to murder accused over MCOCA being invoked after filing chargesheet: HC

A single-judge bench of Justice Makarand S Karnik, who passed this order in a plea by Amit Madhukar Bhogale and Vaibhav Rajendra Aglave, was told by senior advocate Raja Thakare that the applicants were arrested in October, 2021 for murder under section 302 of IPC among other provisions. He said the chargesheet was filed against some of the accused in the FIR on November 26, 2021. The chargesheet against Bhogale was filed on February 23, 2022 within the stipulated period as per section 167 (2) of Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC). And the special court added offences under MCOCA in the current FIR on September 26, 2022.

Thakare argued that more than 180 days had lapsed since the arrest under MCOCA, although a formal remand had been granted under the special law. He claimed that invoking MCOCA at a later stage demonstrated the investigation agency’s malafide, as they wished to keep the matter lingering and frustrate the right of liberty of the accused.

However, Public Prosecutor Hiten Venegaonkar for the police argued that the accused could not claim fundamental right to default bail once the chargesheet was filed within stipulated time.

The court also ruled that investigation under MCOCA was a continuation of the earlier investigation for IPC offences. The provisions of MCOCA were invoked because they found the applicants’ offences under MCOCA.

“The right to claim default bail under Section 167(2) of the CrPC will not be revived as invocation of the provisions of MCOCA was not a new investigation but a continuation of the earlier investigation for IPC offence”, the court held while rejecting the bail pleas.