Grant of default bail will not operate as an absolute bar to cancelling it once the charge sheet is filed and the same can be considered if a strong case is made out, the Supreme Court said Monday.
A bench of Justices M R Shah and C T Ravikumar said this while asking the Telangana High Court to reconsider a CBI plea for cancellation of bail granted to accused Erra Gangi Reddy in connection with the murder of former Andhra Pradesh minister and Congress leader Y S Vivekananda Reddy and decide it on merits.
Hearing an appeal by the central probe agency challenging the HC order, the SC said the High Court judgment which held that default bail cannot be cancelled on merits “will give a premium to the lethargy or dishonesty of investigating agencies”.
The court said mere non-filing of charge sheet will not be enough but a strong case has to be made out that the accused has committed non-bailable crime and deserves to be in custody.