In Brief
Rambeer Shokeen was arrested on 1 December 2016 in connection with MCOCA offences. Before the 90-day period expired, the prosecutor applied for extension to file the charge-sheet. The accused then applied for statutory bail. The Special Court extended judicial custody but deferred deciding the prosecutor's extension application; when the charge-sheet was filed on 8 March 2017, the extension application was marked infructuous. The Supreme Court held that an accused cannot claim indefeasible statutory bail rights until the prosecution's extension application is formally rejected. Since the charge-sheet was filed before the extension request was expressly rejected, no right to statutory bail had accrued. The statutory bail right exists only until charge-sheet filing and cannot be enforced thereafter. The Court affirmed dismissal of the bail application.
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