Q. With respect to the Indian judicial system, consider the following statements regarding ‘charge sheet’
1. It is the final report prepared by a police officer or investigative agency after completing their investigation.
2. Non-filing of charge sheet within the prescribed time gives accused the ‘right to default bail’.
3. It is a public document and must be made publicly available.
How many of the above given statements are correct?
Exp) Option b is the correct answer.
Section 173 of Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPc)contains provisions regarding the charge sheet. Statement 1 is correct: A charge sheet is the final report prepared by the police office or the investigative agency after completing their investigation.
Statement 2 is correct: A charge sheet needs to be filed within the prescribed period of 60/90 days. Non-filling of charge sheet within the prescribed time will entitle the accused for the right to default bail.
Statement 3 is incorrect: Recently Supreme Court has held that charge sheet is NOT a public document, and it cannot be made publicly available. Section 74 of the Evidence Act contains the details about the public documents and as per the Court’s ruling, charge sheets cannot be called a public document under this section. It should be noted that First Information Report (FIR) is a public document, and the Supreme Court has directed to publish copies of FIRs online (except in the sensitive cases).
