Calcutta High Court: Filing Chargesheet Without Chemical Report Doesn’t Entitle Accused to Default Bail.
Calcutta High Court: In a significant ruling, the Calcutta High Court , led by Justices Debangsu Basak and Md. Shabbar Rashidi , has clarified that an accused cannot claim default bail merely because the chargesheet was filed without the Chemical Examination Report (CER) . As long as the chargesheet is submitted within the statutory timeframe and contains sufficient evidence to proceed with prosecution, the right to default bail is considered extinguished. Contentions The case centered around whether a police chargesheet filed without the chemical analysis of the seized contraband can be treated as “incomplete,” thereby granting the accused the right to default (statutory) bail under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act . The petitioner argued that: The absence of a Chemical Examination Report meant the chargesheet was inherently flawed. Without confirmation that the seized substance was a narcotic, the police couldn't validly conclude t...