KHINVDAN Vs. STATE OF RAJASTHAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) KHINVDAN alias Khiny Singh has applied for bail under Section 439 (1) of the new Criminal Procedure Code.

(2.) THE Prosecution case against him is that he committed the murder of his wife Kalyan Kanwar alias Nen Kanwar by strangulating her while she was sleeping in a room of his house in the night between 16th and 17th November. 1974. His bail application was rejected by the learned Munsiff and Judicial Magistrate, Desuri, on 24th February, 1975 and thereafter by the learned Sessions Judge, Pali, on 17th March, 1975,

(3.) THE petitioner was arrested by the local police on 2-12-1974. Thereafter he was kept in detention by a series of orders of remand obtained by the investigating agency from the learned Judicial Magistrate during the course of investigation. The investigation, however, could not be completed within a total period of 60 days from the date of the arrest of the petitioner. The learned Magistrate did not release the petitioner on bail even after the expiry of 60 days, although it is alleged that the petitioner requested the Court that he was prepared to furnish bail bonds. Thereupon, the petitioner filed an application before the learned Magistrate on 22-1-1975 that he was entitled to be released on bail after a total period of 60 days under proviso (a) to Sub-section (2) of Section 167 of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973. The learned Magistrate passed no order on the application of the petitioner and kept it pending till 24th February, 1975, on which date the police submitted an incomplete charge-sheet under Section 173, Criminal P. C. against him for the offence of murder. The learned Magistrate took cognizance of the offence of murder upon police report and remanded the petitioner to judicial custody under Sub-section (2) of Section 309, Criminal P. C. The petitioner, therefore, contends that under Section 167, Criminal P. C. he can be detained in custody under the orders of a Magistrate only for a total period of 60 days from the date of his arrest and that his further detention after the expiry of 60 days is unlawful and he should be admitted to bail at once. In support of the above contention, the petitioner's counsel has placed reliance upon Gopalan v. State of Madras , Bir Bhadra Pratap Singh v. D. M. Azamgarh.