Default bail computation under CrPC includes the first remand day; Section 9 of the General Clauses Act does not exclude it.

For computing the 60-day period for default bail under Section 167(2)(a)(ii) CrPC, the day of first remand is included because the statutory detention runs from the date judicial custody is first authorised. The Court held that Section 9 of the General Clauses Act does not apply to this computation, as Section 167(2) governs the Magistrate's power to authorise detention rather than a conventional limitation period. Applying that rule, the accused became entitled to default bail when the complaint was filed after expiry of 60 days, and the order refusing bail was set aside.

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Issues: Whether, for computing the period of 60 days under Section 167(2)(a)(ii) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, the day of first remand is to be included or excluded.

Analysis: The Court examined the scheme of arrest, production before the Magistrate, and judicial authorization of custody under Sections 57 and 167 of the Code. It noted that the right to default bail arises when investigation is not completed within the statutory period and that the detention contemplated by Section 167(2) is the detention authorized by the Magistrate from the date of first remand. The Court considered the conflicting authorities on computation of the period and held that the earlier decisions beginning with Chaganti Satyanarayan and followed in later cases treated the period as running from the date of remand, while the contrary view in Rustam and cases following it did not correctly state the law. The Court further held that Section 9 of the General Clauses Act, 1897 has no application to Section 167(2), because the provision does not operate as a conventional period of limitation running from a terminus a quo to a terminus ad quem; rather, it governs the Magistrate's power to authorize detention. The Court also relied on the principle that the statutory right to default bail cannot be defeated by procedural subterfuge once the period expires.

Conclusion: The day of first remand is included in the computation, and the applicants became entitled to default bail when the complaint was filed after expiry of 60 days.

Final Conclusion: The impugned order refusing default bail was set aside and the applicants were directed to be released on bail, with conditions.

Ratio Decidendi: For the purpose of Section 167(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, the statutory period for default bail runs from the date of first remand and the first day of remand is not excluded by Section 9 of the General Clauses Act, 1897.

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