The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday suffered a blow after the Supreme Court refused to interfere with the “default bail” granted to rights activist Sudha Bharadwaj by Bombay High Court last week.

“We find no reason to interfere with the impugned order passed by the high court…. The appeal is dismissed,” a bench of Justices U.U. Lalit, Ravindra Bhat and Bela Trivedi said in an order.

Bharadwaj is being tried for her alleged links with Maoists in the Bhima Koregaon case.

The high court had granted her default bail on the grounds that the probe was not completed on time and the extension granted by an additional sessions judge in Pune was contrary to the law.

“Within 90 days, you have to complete the investigation unless you can show reasons for having not completed,” Justice Lalit, heading the bench, told additional solicitor-general Aman Lekhi, representing the NIA.

Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for Bharadwaj, defended the bail and said the high court had rightly concluded that the Pune court had no jurisdiction to extend the time for filing the chargesheet beyond the stipulated 90 days.