Police custody from judicial custody can be sought beyond the initial thirty days under the anti-terror law, subject to judicial scrutiny.

Section 49(2)(b) of the Prevention of Terrorism Act, 2002 was read as an exception to Section 167(2) CrPC, permitting a request for police custody even after the initial thirty-day period when the accused is already in judicial custody. Section 49(2)(a) only extends the detention period by substituting thirty days for fifteen days, while the separate proviso in Section 49(2)(b) governs police-custody applications from judicial custody. The affidavit requirement and explanation for delay were treated as safeguards showing that the power is subject to judicial scrutiny and is not unconfined.

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Issues: Whether Section 49(2)(b) of the Prevention of Terrorism Act, 2002 permits an application for police custody only within the initial 30-day period, or also when the accused is already in judicial custody after that period.

Analysis: Section 49(2)(a) substitutes the references in Section 167(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 to "fifteen days" with "thirty days" and extends the outer period for detention, while Section 49(2)(b) separately inserts an additional proviso dealing with a request for police custody from judicial custody. The provision was treated as an exception engrafted on the proviso to Section 167(2), not as a limitation confining police-custody requests to the first 30 days. The safeguards built into Section 49(2)(b), including the affidavit requirement and explanation for delay, were relied upon to show that the provision is not unbridled and that misuse can be controlled by judicial scrutiny.

Conclusion: The application for police custody from judicial custody is not confined to the first 30 days. The interpretation restricting Section 49(2)(b) to that period was rejected, and the challenge to the impugned order failed.

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