UAPA Default Bail: “Enough Evidence to File Chargesheet” Does Not Mean Investigation Is Complete, Holds Supreme Court

Case Name: The State of Maharashtra & Anr. v. Momin Moiuddin Gulam Hasan @ Moin Mistri & Anr.

Date of Judgment: 21 September 2026

Citation: 2026 INSC 1021

Bench: Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra and Justice Shree Chandrashekhar.

Held: For an extension under Section 43D(2)(b) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, a prosecutor’s statement that there is enough evidence to file a chargesheet cannot be read in isolation as an admission that the investigation is complete. The application must be read as a whole. Here, forensic material, electronic data, witness voice samples and financial records still required examination. The High Court therefore erred in treating the investigation as complete and invalidating the Special Judge’s second extension of time. The Court reaffirmed that sanction under Section 45 of the UAPA is required before cognizance, and a chargesheet can be filed without it; that rule did not resolve whether this investigation was complete.

Summary: In a UAPA investigation, the Special Judge extended the time for filing a chargesheet by 30 days and subsequently granted a further 15 days. The accused applied for default bail, arguing that the second extension was unlawful. The Bombay High Court accepted that argument. It relied heavily on a statement in the prosecutor’s application that enough evidence was available to file a chargesheet, and concluded that the investigation was finished and time was sought only to obtain sanction. The Supreme Court found that the same application described investigative work still underway, including analysis and collation of forensic, electronic and bank-account material. It held that the High Court had misconstrued a single sentence and overlooked the substance of the request.

Decision: The Supreme Court allowed the State’s appeal, set aside the Bombay High Court’s judgment, upheld the Special Judge’s order granting the further 15 days, and dismissed the accused’s default bail application dated 20 January 2023.