Statutory bail computation under Section 167(2): remand date is excluded when counting the charge-sheet period.

For statutory bail under Section 167(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, the date on which the accused is produced before court and remanded to custody is excluded from computing the 60-day or 90-day period. The Bombay High Court relied on a later Supreme Court decision, which had considered the earlier view and held that the remand date must be left out when calculating the time for filing the charge-sheet. On that basis, the argument that the remand date should be counted was rejected, and the petitioner was not entitled to statutory bail on that ground.

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Issues: Whether, for the purpose of statutory bail under Section 167(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, the date on which the accused is produced before the Court and remanded to custody is to be included in computing the period of 60 days or 90 days.

Analysis: The Court noted that the later Supreme Court decision had considered the earlier view and had held that, while computing the period for filing the charge-sheet, the date on which the accused is remanded to judicial custody is to be excluded. On that basis, the contention that the remand date must be included while computing the statutory period was held to be untenable.

Conclusion: The remand date is not to be included in computing the period under Section 167(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, and the petitioner was not entitled to statutory bail on that ground.

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