Habeas corpus remains unavailable where custody rests on a valid judicial remand, even if further investigation is stayed.

Habeas corpus does not lie where custody is supported by a valid judicial remand order passed by a competent Magistrate. A stay of further investigation in a connected quashing petition does not, by itself, render existing custody illegal or invalidate the remand, because remand under Section 167(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure is a judicial act distinct from investigation under Section 2(h). The legality of detention is assessed with reference to the custody existing on the relevant date, and release can be sought only if the remand is wholly without jurisdiction or patently illegal. On that basis, the custody was not illegal and habeas corpus was not maintainable.

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Issues: Whether a writ of habeas corpus could be issued to release an accused whose custody flowed from a judicial remand order when the High Court had stayed further investigation in a connected quashing petition.

Analysis: A writ of habeas corpus lies only where the detention is illegal or without jurisdiction. The legality of custody is tested with reference to the custody existing on the relevant date, and a custody supported by a judicial order of remand cannot be treated as illegal merely because investigation has been stayed. The order of remand under Section 167(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 is a judicial act, distinct from investigation as defined in Section 2(h) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973. A stay on further investigation restrains the investigating agency, but it does not invalidate an already passed remand order that was made by a competent Magistrate on application of mind and not in a mechanical manner.

Conclusion: The custody was not illegal and a writ of habeas corpus was not maintainable.

Ratio Decidendi: A person committed to custody by a competent court under a valid judicial remand order cannot be released in habeas corpus proceedings merely because further investigation has been stayed; the remand order stands on its own legality unless it is shown to be wholly without jurisdiction or patently illegal.

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