Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court made it clear that an accused in a criminal case can seek default bail or statutory bail, only if the chargesheet or final report was not filed within the 60/90-day remand period which begins from the date of the magistrate’s remand order. The court said that the date of registration of FIR cannot be computed to calculate the period of 60 or 90 days, for the purpose of default bail.
Justice J. Sreenivas Rao also said that if a chargesheet is filed on or after the 61st/91st day, the accused is entitled to default bail provided the application is made before such filing. Once the right to default bail accrues, it cannot be defeated by the subsequent filing of the chargesheet.
The Judge emphasised the right of default bail in a bail petition filed by Koka Raghava Rao (junior), 34, who was sent to prison on a complaint filed by his 96-year-old grandfather Koka Raghava Rao (senior), a senior advocate who has 70 years of standing as advocate in the High Court and Supreme Court.
According to Dr J. Vijayalakshmi, counsel for Raghava Rao (senior), his client had acquired several properties in Munaganoor and flats in Ghaziabad, Noida and Supreme Towers at Delhi. Due to his advanced age, he reduced his travel and decided to sell his Ghazibad flat and for which he granted general power of attorney (GPA) to his grandson in December 2023.
His grandson fraudulently portrayed himself as the GPA holder and executed a development agreement for another property on 16.12.2023, which was registered just a day after the original GPA.
Moreover, the complainant came to know that various plots in Munganoor village belonging to him and his relatives were sold to third parties by the accused and others by using fabricated death certificates and Aadhaar cards including those of Raghava Rao (senior)’s deceased wife and other relatives. Further, large sums of money were withdrawn from his bank accounts and fixed deposits without his consent. The stolen amounts included `90 lakh from his FDRs in New Delhi, `13,41,111 from his savings account at a bank and `49,06,951 from the sale proceeds of his Noida flat through his account with another bank.
Based on the complaint, the police registered an FIR on January 3, 2025, and arrested the complainant’s grandson, Raghava Rao (junior), on February 11. Computing the 90-day period from the registration of FIR, the grandson approached the High Court for statutory bail. The court dismissed his petition and gave clarity on the right of default bail.
