The Court held that once the chargesheet for IPC offences is filed within time as per Section 167 CrPC, no right to default bail subsists only because MCOCA offences were invoked after the chargesheet was filed.
The Court was of the view that a congenital defect of lack of jurisdiction, assuming that it exists, inures to the benefit of the accused and hence it need not be cured at the instance of the accused to his detriment.
The high court said the right of the accused to be set at liberty takes precedence over the right of the state to carry on the investigation and file a charge sheet.