Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023–Sec. 250(1) [newly inserted]–Provision enables the accused to avail a statutory period of sixty days to prefer an application for discharge–The provision is not merely directory but confers a substantive procedural right upon the accused to invoke judicial scrutiny of the sufficiency of grounds before being compelled to face a full-fledged trial–Once the defence through its counsel, categorically conveys its intention to exercise such right, the Court is obliged to facilitate and receive such application, rather than foreclose the statutory remedy–In the instant case, charges came to be framed on the 50th day from the date of cognizance, thereby truncating the statutory window available to the accused–Impugned order cannot be sustained.
