The Supreme Court has expressed its concerns over 1992 CBI vs Anupam case verdict that restricts investigative agencies and police from seeking custody of an accused more than 15 days following arrest.
The court said that 15-day custody limit should apply to the entire investigation period, whether it is 60 or 90 days.
The registry was directed by the Court to put forth the current matter before the Chief Justice of Indiafor deciding whether the 15-day custody window should be confined to the initial remand or extended throughout the entire investigation period.
A bench of the Apex court this year made a similar observation in April. Another bench had suggested a reconsideration of its verdict that disallowed police custody beyond the initial 15 days following arrest.
Talking about the current case,the accused was remanded to Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) custody for 7 days, but was subsequently admitted to the hospital and obtained interim bail.
The Apex Court however granted CBI,an additional 4-day custody period, considering the fact that actual interrogation time had been limited to only two and a half days during the earlier 7-day custody.
The bench of Justice MR Shah acknowledging the circumstances and the Special Judge’s observations while revoking interim bail.
The Justice also noted the need for re-evaluating the stance taken in the Anupam J Kulkarni case.
The court said that it is true that in the case of Anupam J Kulkarni, there cannot be any police custody beyond 15 days from the date of arrest.
It further added that the view taken by the Court in the case of Anupam J Kulkarni requires re-consideration.
The Special Judge also noted that due to the non-cooperation by the accused, the interrogation of the accused under judicial custody/police custody was necessitated.