In Brief
The Supreme Court, by a 2:1 majority, held that an accused charged with offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (as amended by the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013) carrying a sentence of 4-10 years is entitled to default bail after 60 days if no charge-sheet is filed, not 90 days. The Court interpreted 'imprisonment for not less than ten years' as requiring a minimum sentence of 10 years or more. The majority also ruled that the right to default bail is indefeasible once the statutory period expires, cannot be defeated by later charge-sheet filing, and need not be claimed by formal written application. The Court emphasised courts must inform accused persons of this right and should not adopt overly technical approaches to personal liberty matters.
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