MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court on Tuesday reaffirmed that while the law mandates timely investigation and filing of a chargesheet, investigative agencies cannot act in ways that undermine an accused’s constitutional right to life and personal liberty under Article 21. The court dismissed the state’s request to file a chargesheet on December 9—exactly 90 days after an FIR was lodged in a cheating case—against just one of several accused.
Under criminal procedure law, investigators must file a chargesheet within 60 or 90 days. Failure to do so entitles the accused to seek default bail.
A bench of Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam Ankhad said it was “quite apparent” that the state’s application was aimed at preventing the accused from availing default bail. “Whether or not he ultimately gets default bail is another matter, but his right to seek it cannot be frustrated,” the court said.
The bench also questioned the rationale behind filing a chargesheet only against one accused while remaining silent on the status of the investigation against seven others, especially when all face similar conspiracy allegations. “The investigating officer has no indefeasible right to file a chargesheet against a particular accused while not even whispering a word about the stage of investigation against other accused,” the order authored by CJ Chandrashekhar stated.
The case involves Mangesh Kadam, a company director and one of eight accused in an alleged multi-crore shares and corporate fraud from 2021. Kadam had earlier moved the HC with a quashing petition, after which the court directed the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) not to file a chargesheet. He was later arrested in September.
On Tuesday, additional public prosecutor K. V. Saste sought permission to file a chargesheet only against Kadam as the 90-day deadline was ending. Senior counsel Ravi Kadam, appearing for Mangesh Kadam, opposed the move, arguing that the Supreme Court has repeatedly disapproved of such last-minute filings intended to block default bail.
However, complainant’s counsel Jatin Sehgal argued that the accused was attempting to claim statutory bail on the “misconceived” premise that a chargesheet cannot be filed against him alone while the probe into other accused continues.
The HC clarified that police are free to file a chargesheet after completing their investigation, but the agency does not have an “absolute right” to submit it selectively just because the statutory deadline is about to lapse.
