New Delhi, Jan 16,2023: The Supreme Court on Monday held that default bail granted to an accused can be cancelled on merits — if a strong case is made out on filing of a charge sheet — as there cannot be a premium on lethargic probe.

A bench headed by Justice M.R. Shah directed the Telangana High Court to consider on merits the CBI’s plea for cancellation of bail to Erra Gangi Reddy in connection with the murder of former Andhra Pradesh minister Y.S. Vivekananda Reddy, uncle of Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy. He was found murdered at his residence in Pulivendula on March 15, 2019.

The bench, also comprising Justice C.T. Ravikumar, noted that mere non-filing of the charge sheet (within the deadline) will not be enough when a strong case is made out against the accused. The top court remanded that matter back to the high court to consider it afresh in accordance with law and on merits.

The top court observed that the high court judgment — which held that default bail cannot be cancelled on merits — would give a premium to the lethargy of investigating agencies.

The top court was considering whether bail can be cancelled after presentation of the charge sheet, when the bail was granted for not filing the charge sheet within 90 days.

The bench noted that mere filing of charge sheet will not result in cancellation unless a strong case is made out that the accused has committed a non bailable offence. The detailed judgment in the matter will be uploaded later.