Default bail under criminal procedure and GST complaints turns on whether a police report was required and timely filed.

Default bail under Section 167(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure depends on whether the prescribed report required by law was not filed within the statutory period. In GST prosecutions, officers acting under Sections 69 and 70 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 are empowered to arrest and inquire, but prosecution for offences under Section 132 proceeds by complaint with prior sanction, not by a police final report under Section 173 of the Code. The text also notes the settled distinction that GST officers are not police officers for this purpose, and that a complaint filed within 60 days does not attract default bail.

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Issues: Whether the petitioners were entitled to default bail under Section 167(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 on the ground that no charge-sheet had been filed within 60 days, and whether a complaint filed by GST authorities under the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 could validly substitute a police report for the purpose of cognizance and remand.

Analysis: Default bail is an indefeasible right, but it operates in the statutory setting applicable to the nature of the investigation and the kind of report contemplated by law. The relevant provisions of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 show that officers empowered under Sections 69 and 70 are authorised to arrest and inquire into offences, and that prosecution for offences under Section 132 is launched by complaint with previous sanction, not by a police final report. The Court applied the settled distinction that such GST are not police officers and, therefore, are not required to file a report under Section 173 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973. In the present case, the complaint was filed within 60 days of arrest, so the statutory basis for claiming default bail did not arise.

Conclusion: The petitioners were not entitled to default bail, and the challenge to the orders refusing bail failed.

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