Supreme Court on default bail

Subject : Polity

Section: Judiciary

Concept :

The Supreme Court of India has directed lower courts to decide on pending default bail applications without relying on its own judgment of April 26.
In the Ritu Chhabaria versus Union of India case, the Supreme Court held that central agencies cannot deny accused persons their right to default bail by filing multiple supplementary chargesheets and seeking renewed custody.
The judgment held that “the right of default bail under Section 167(2) of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) is not merely a statutory right, but a fundamental right that flows from Article 21 of the Constitution” to protect accused persons from the “unfettered and arbitrary power of the State”.

Significance of the order:

A judgment of the Supreme Court is considered the law of the land. Article 141 of the Constitution provides that the law declared by the Supreme Court shall be binding on all courts within India.
After the Ritu Chhabaria judgment was delivered, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) filed an urgent application in the Supreme Court to “recall” the verdict.
The ED contended that the judgment contradicted past rulings of the Supreme Court. The ED also filed an appeal against the default bail granted to Manpreet Singh Talwar, an accused in a money laundering case who had relied on the Ritu Chhabaria verdict, arguing that the judgment would not apply to special laws such as the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
The Supreme Court clarified that lower courts can decide on default bail applications independently of its judgment in the Ritu Chhabaria case.