Statutory bail and sanction: a charge-sheet filed without prior sanction can still defeat the Section 167(2) claim.

A charge-sheet filed after completion of investigation is valid for the purpose of Section 167(2) CrPC even if prior sanction under the Prevention of Corruption Act has not been obtained. The court reasoned that sanction is not strictly part of the investigation under Section 173 CrPC, and may be produced later with the court's permission. Because the report is not rendered incomplete merely for want of annexed sanction, filing such a charge-sheet is sufficient to prevent the right to statutory bail from accruing. The challenge to the charge-sheet therefore failed, and the accused was not entitled to statutory bail.

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Issues: Whether a charge-sheet filed without prior sanction under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 is a valid charge-sheet for the purposes of Section 167(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure and defeats the claim to statutory bail.

Analysis: Section 173 of the Code requires forwarding of the report after completion of investigation. The Court held that sanction is not strictly part of the investigation. It relied on the settled position that, in the absence of sanction, the charge-sheet may still be filed and the sanction may be produced later with the Court's permission. Once sanction is not a component of investigation, the report filed on completion of investigation cannot be treated as incomplete merely because sanction was not annexed. For the purpose of Section 167(2), the filing of such a charge-sheet is sufficient to stop the right to statutory bail from accruing.

Conclusion: The challenge to the charge-sheet failed and the petitioner was not entitled to statutory bail under Section 167(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

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