New Delhi: The Karnataka high court on Wednesday, June 16, granted default bail to 115 persons charged under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) for their alleged roles in the riots that broke out in East Bengaluru in August last year.Justice S. Vishwanath Shetty kept on hold a trial court’s order of November 2020 that allowed additional time to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to complete its investigation into the case 90 days after the accused were arrested on August 12.According to Section 167 (2) of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), the accused are entitled to bail by default if the investigating agency cannot bring a case against them within 90 days after their arrest.Allowing the petitions moved by the accused, Muzzamil Pasha and others, the high court overturned the trial court order which rejected the petitioners’ plea for default bail in January this year.Also read: UAPA: 72% Rise in Arrests Between 2015 and 2019Hearing the petitioners’ plea, the high court on Wednesday noted that the application filed by the prosecution requesting an extension of time for completion of the investigation, without notifying the accused, would frustrate their indefeasible right for statutory bail.According to LiveLaw, Justice Shetty said, “The fundamental right of an individual recognized under Article 21 of the Constitution of India cannot be defeated other than in accordance with law. Since the order passed by the trial court on the application filed by the prosecution seeking extension of time for completion of the investigation is already held to be bad in law, the statutory right that has accrued to the petitioners/accused immediately after the completion of the first 90 days of period which right has been availed of by them by filing an application under Section 167(2) of the Code, seeking statutory bail and also offering surety cannot be denied to the petitioners/accused.”The court also did not entertain the prosecution’s contention that the accused can apply for regular bail as it had already filed a charge sheet after the trial court had extended the time period for the probe in November 2020.“…[M]erely for the reason that the charge sheet has now been filed, it will not take away the indefeasible right of the petitioners, if it has accrued in their favour,” Justice Shetty ruled.The court directed the accused to be released on bail on the execution of a personal bond for Rs 2 lakh each with two sureties of the same amount.BackgroundThe case pertains to riots triggered by a Facebook post by P. Naveen, nephew of Congress MLA R. Akhanda Srinivas Murthy representing Pulakeshinagar constituency, in DJ Halli and KG Halli areas in East Bengaluru last year in August.A mob gathered in those areas reacted after police sought time to take action over a complaint filed against Naveen’s post which was termed derogatory to Muslims, as per the police complaint filed on August 11.Pasha, an accused in the case, had approached the DJ Halli police station with this complaint against Naveen at 7:45 pm on August 11. The attacks began at 9:30 pm and ended in the early hours of August 12 after MLAs and other senior leaders gathered at the spot, according to the FIR. Four people were killed in the riots, according to police.Also read: Bangalore: Three Killed in Police Firing After Mob Vandalises MLA’s HouseAfter the riots broke out, police filed 68 FIRs. In two FIRs, they invoked sections 15 and 16 (punishment for terrorist activity), Section 18 (conspiracy to commit a terrorist act) and Section 20 (being members of a terrorist organisation) of the UAPA.According to Hindustan Times, this was the largest number of people ever charged under the UAPA for a single incident of violence in Karnataka.The Bengaluru Police slapped the stringent charges against the accused just days after a fact-finding committee, led by BJP leader Aravind Lambavalli, demanded an investigation by NIA. The case was transferred to the central agency on September 11, 2020.On November 3, 2020, the NIA moved an application before the trial court seeking an extension of the time period to file a report. The trial court then extended the time for completion of the investigation by another 90 days.On the other hand, the trial court rejected the applications filed by petitioners (the accused) for default bail in January this year.