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04. As ninety days were likely to expire after the arrest of the Applicants on 8th October 2004, the Public Prosecutor submitted his report to the Special Judge in terms of proviso to Sub-section (2) of Section 167 of the Cr.P.C., read with Section 21(2) of the MCOCA for extending the period to submit final report. The said report reads thus:

" IN THE COURT OF SPECIAL JUDGE FOR MCOCA CASES, SHRI S.M. SHEMBHOLE, PUNE.
State (CBI) v. Sandeep Krishna Kandar EOU-VI/CBI/N. Delhi of PS Thane Nagar, Under Section 120B r/w Section 109, 216, 218, 255, 259, 260, 261, 263(a), 420, 471, 34 IPC r/w 63(a)&(b) of Bombay Stamp Act and Section 3(1), i, ii, (2), 3(4), 3(5) & 4 & Section 24 of the MCOC Act r/w Section 13(1)(d) of P.C. Act 1988.

05. As the extended time was to expire on 20th January 2005, the Public Prosecutor filed further report before the Special Judge praying for further time to submit final report under Section 173 of the Code. The said report dated January 20, 2005, reads thus:

IN THE COURT OF SPECIAL JUDGE FOR MCOCA CASES COURT OF SESSIONS AT PUNE
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State (CBI) v. Sandeep Krishna Kandar EOU-VI/CBI/N.Delhi of PS Thane Nagar, Under Section 120B r/w Section 109, 216, 218, 255, 259, 260, 261, 263(a), 420, 471, 34 IPC r/w 63(a)&(b)of Bombay Stamp Act and Section 3(1),i, ii, (2), 3(4), 3(5) & 4 & Section 24 of the MCOC Act r/w Section 13(1)(d) of P.C. Act 1388.

The said observations find mention in the judgment of the Mumbai High Court in the case of Mohamed Shakil Mohamed Shafi Jariwala and Ors. v. State of Maharashtra in Criminal Appeal No. 379 of 2000 decided on February 16, 2000, a copy of which has been submitted before this Hon'ble Court. In the said judgment, the Hon'ble Mumbai High Court is pleased to observe that the applicability of the provisions of MCOC Act is part of the process of law playing down to what extend and under what circumstances liberties of a person is curtailed. Therefore, the person against whom the provisions of MCOC Act have been applied cannot seek shelter under the umbrella of the provisions of Article 21 of the sacrosanct constitution so far as the provisions of the Act have been complied with. It had also been observed that Section 13 of MCOC Act shows as to how sternly the Legislature wanted to deal with the person who violates the provisions of Section 19. The Hon'ble High Court has further observed that the Legislature thought in their wisdom that such stringent provisions are necessary because the said Act deals with such incorrigible organized criminals whose activities cannot be controlled and it is not ordinarily possible to bring them to books by the ordinary law of the land. The Hon'ble High Court is further pleased to observe that MCOC Act is a special enactment intended to deal with a separate class of criminals, which excludes the provisions of Section 167 of the Code of Criminal Procedure which is a general Act.

Once again, in the light of the said observations and the other provisions of the MCOC Act, the provisions of Section 21(2) have to be considered. Once the Legislature has provided for extension of period up to 180 days while the accused are in custody, it is crystal clear that the Legislature does not intend that the accused detained under MCOC Act should get benefit of default or failure of the prosecution agency to file the charge-sheet after the period of 30 days is over once an application is presented before the Special Judge by the Public Prosecutor supported by his report on the progress of the investigation and the specific reasons for the extension of the custody on which THE SPECIAL JUDGE SHALL EXTEND THE PERIOD OF INVESTIGATION shows that it has been made mandatory on the part of the Special Court to extend the period once the prayer on the basis of report of the progress of the investigation and the specific reasons for the extension of the custody are placed before the Hon'ble Special Judge. The interpretation of the said provision shows that the only requirement for the extension of period is the replacement of progress report and the specific reasons for such extension, which reflect that (1) the investigation is in progress and (2) sufficient material to establish the guilt of the accused has already been collected.