Further investigation does not extinguish an earlier charge-sheet, and default bail cannot rest on a later investigative step.

Further investigation under Section 173(8) of the Code of Criminal Procedure does not nullify an earlier charge-sheet filed under Section 173(2). Where the charge-sheet in the original FIR was filed within time, default bail under Section 167(2) cannot be claimed by linking the request to a later CBI investigation arising from the court-directed further inquiry. The later fresh FIR and further report were treated as part of the continuing investigative process, not as rejection or quashing of the earlier report. Delay in trial also did not aid the petitioner because it was attributable to a co-accused, and relief was refused.

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Issues: Whether the petitioner was entitled to default bail under Section 167(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 on the basis of the later CBI investigation, and whether the direction for further investigation by the CBI implied rejection or quashing of the earlier charge-sheet filed by the State police.

Analysis: The prayer for default bail was made in relation to the first FIR, in which the charge-sheet had already been filed within the prescribed period. The subsequent registration of a fresh FIR by the CBI was treated as part of the investigative process following the Court's direction for further investigation, not as an abandonment or rejection of the earlier report. The filing of a further report by the CBI did not extinguish the earlier charge-sheet, and the petitioner could not claim default bail by linking the application to the later investigation while remaining arrested in connection with the earlier FIR. Delay in trial also did not assist the petitioner because it was attributable to a co-accused.

Conclusion: The claim for default bail was untenable, and the challenge to the earlier charge-sheet failed. The petitioner was not entitled to relief.

Ratio Decidendi: Further investigation under Section 173(8) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 does not nullify an earlier charge-sheet already filed under Section 173(2), and default bail under Section 167(2) cannot be claimed on the basis of a later investigative step when the arrest and charge-sheet relate to the original FIR.

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