Nitin Khandelwal v. State of Madhya Pradesh
In the High Court of Madhya Pradesh
M.Cr.C. 15570, 16430/2021
Before Justice Subodh Abhyankar
Decided on April 5, 2021

Relevancy of the case: Default bail due to failure to file the chargesheet within the prescribed duration in a case involving gambling and misrepresentation

Statutes and Provisions Involved

• The Information Technology Act, 2000 (Section 66C, 66D)
• The Indian Penal Code, 1860 (Section 120B, 420, 34, 467, 468, 471)
• The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1976 (Section 167(2), 482)
• The M.P. Public Gambling Act, 1976 (Section 3, 4)

Relevant Facts of the Case

• The accused filed for default bail before the Judicial Magistrate following the failure to file a chargesheet within 60 days of the arrest by the prosecution.
• Furthermore, the State of Madhya Pradesh filed a criminal revision before the Additional Sessions Judge against the order of the Judicial Magistrate First Class. In accordance, the Sessions Court held that the maximum duration available with the prosecution is 90 days, as Section 467 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 prescribes life imprisonment.
• Since the chargesheet was filed after 60 days of the arrest, consequently, the accused are eligible for default bail under Section 167(2) of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1976.

Prominent Arguments by the Advocates

• The petitioner’s counsel relied on the cases of Nitin Nakhra v. State of MP (2019) and Shalini Verma v. State of Chhattisgarh (2019). He submitted that the petitioners would be entitled to default bail after the expiry of sixty days. Furthermore, he argued that the chargesheet was filed 124 days after the initial arrest of the petitioners.
• The respondent’s counsel submitted that there is illegality on the part of the Additional Sessions Judge as the accused is punishable by a life sentence, so the period of filing the chargesheet does not matter.

Opinion of the Bench

• The bench held that the limitation of 90 days is applicable.

Final Decision

• The bench partly allowed the bail application and enlarged the petitioners on default bail.

Marc Pereira, an undergraduate student at Rizviv Law College, Mumbai, prepared this case summary during his internship with The Cyber Blog India in January/February 2022.