Default bail under Section 167(2) CrPC was not defeated by the COVID-era extension of limitation.

The Madras High Court considered whether the Supreme Court's COVID-19 extension of limitation covered the time-limit under Section 167(2) CrPC for default bail. It held that the right to default bail arises on expiry of the prescribed detention period and is not a mere limitation period for filing proceedings. The extension order applied to suits, appeals, applications and similar limitation-based proceedings, not to police investigation or filing of final reports under Section 167(2). The Court also noted that special statutes such as the NDPS Act contain express extension provisions, which are absent here. On that basis, the accused's accrued right to default bail remained unaffected.

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Issues: Whether the Supreme Court's order extending limitation during the COVID-19 lockdown applies to the time-limit under Section 167(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, so as to defeat the accused's right to default bail.

Analysis: The right under Section 167(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 arises on expiry of the prescribed detention period and is not a mere procedural limitation for filing a proceeding. The extension of limitation ordered by the Supreme Court was directed at suits, appeals, applications and similar proceedings governed by limitation law, and did not refer to police investigation or the filing of final reports under Section 167(2). The statutory scheme of Section 167 distinguishes investigation custody from ordinary limitation, and the Court also noted that special statutes such as the NDPS Act contain express provisions for extension of investigation time, unlike the present case. In these circumstances, the accused's accrued right to default bail could not be taken away by invoking the general extension of limitation.

Conclusion: The order extending limitation did not apply to Section 167(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, and the petitioner was entitled to default bail.

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