Bar against granting police remand after prolonged delays post-release

Directing the police custody remand of an accused several months after their release on regular bail constitutes a gross abuse of the process of law. When an investigating agency fails to establish the immediate necessity of custody at the threshold and allows nearly seven months to elapse while the accused enjoys liberty, the urgency for custodial interrogation completely dissipates. Revisional forums and High Courts fall into grave error when they resurrect stale police demands for custody long after the initial arrest and release on bail. Granting custodial remand after such extended timeframes, without any allegation of interim misconduct or non-cooperation by the accused, serves no legitimate investigative purpose. Such delayed directions inflict unnecessary harassment and undermine the stability of judicial orders that granted bail in the first instance. Courts must firmly discourage investigating agencies from seeking delayed custodial remands as a tool to re-agitate settled procedural stages. Consequently, long delays between release on bail and the consideration of remand applications render the prayer for police custody legally unviable. (Pogadadabnda Revathi & Anr. v. The State of Telangana | 2026 INSC 75)