DA case: CBI court dismisses suspended DIG Bhullar’s default bail plea

Default bail, also known as statutory or compulsory bail, is an accused person’s fundamental right to be released from custody if the investigating agency fails to complete the probe and file a chargesheet within a legally mandated time limit (usually 60 or 90 days).

A special CBI court on Thursday dismissed the default bail application of former Punjab DIG Harcharan Singh Bhullar in a disproportionate assets (DA) case.

The DA case is an offshoot of the bribery case in which Bhullar and his alleged aid Kirshanu Sharda were arrested on October 16. (HT File)

Default bail, also known as statutory or compulsory bail, is an accused person’s fundamental right to be released from custody if the investigating agency fails to complete the probe and file a chargesheet within a legally mandated time limit (usually 60 or 90 days).

The DA case is an offshoot of the bribery case in which Bhullar and his alleged aid Kirshanu Sharda were arrested on October 16. The allegations are that they were seeking ₹8 lakh bribe from a scrap dealer from Mandi Gobindgarh, to settle an old FIR. While the CBI has already filed a chargesheet in the corruption case, it is yet to do so in the DA case, which was registered on October 29 after ₹7 crore cash and gold and silver jewellery worth over ₹2 crore were recovered from his residence during searches.

His counsel argued that 60 days had elapsed since the registration of the FIR but the CBI had failed to file the chargesheet. The CBI’s public prosecutor, however, opposed the bail application, stating that the defense had counted the days of arrest in the corruption case as the date of his arrest, but his arrest in the DA case occurred several days after his arrest. Consequently, the filing of the chargesheet in the DA case is still a few days away, and Bhullar has filed a premature application.

After hearing both sides, the court rejected Bhullar’s bail plea.