Taking up the case of a Maoist leader charged under the tough UAPA law, the Apex Court on Wednesday held that an undertrial can't be indefinitely detained in prison if there is a delay in concluding the trial. The Courts “would ordinarily be obligated” to grant bail if timely trial isn't possible & the accused has been in jail for long, it added.
Underlining that the rights of an accused must also be protected, a bench of Justices Ajay Rastogi & Abhay S Oka said deprivation of personal liberty without ensuring speedy trial is not consistent with Article 21 of the Constitution on the right to life & liberty. The court granted bail to 74-year alleged senior Maoist leader Asim Kumar Bhattacharya being tried by NIA under various provisions of IPC & Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
Bhattacharya approached the Supreme Court through Lawyer Satya Mitra after his bail plea was rejected by the Trial Court & the High Court of Calcutta. He was arrested on July 6, 2012, & has been in jail since. The charge sheet was filed in 2012 but charges were framed in 2019.
The Court said that “This court has consistently observed in its numerous judgments that the liberty guaranteed in Part III of the Constitution would cover within its protective ambit not only due procedure & fairness but also access to justice & a speedy trial is imperative & undertrials cannot indefinitely be detained pending trial. Once it is obvious that a timely trial would not be possible & the accused has suffered incarceration for a significant period of time, the courts would ordinarily be obligated to enlarge him on bail".
The court said charges against Bhattacharya were very serious but need to be balanced with certain other factors like the period of incarceration undergone & the likely period within which the trial can be expected to be finally concluded. The court noted there is no likelihood of wrapping up the trial as the statement of only one out more than 100 witnesses has so far been recorded in the case.
It said that “Deprivation of personal liberty without ensuring speedy trial is not consistent with Article 21 of the Constitution of India. While deprivation of personal liberty for some period may not be avoidable, period of deprivation pending trial/appeal cannot be unduly long. At the same time, timely delivery of justice is part of human rights & denial of speedy justice is a threat to public confidence in the administration of justice".
The court noted that the trial in the case should have been conducted on a day-to-day basis as per the NIA Act but it was not being followed in this case, causing delay in proceedings.
The bench stated, “In the given circumstances, we consider it appropriate to direct that the state of West Bengal shall take up the issue & designate more dedicated courts of sessions as special courts for the trial of offences specified in the schedule appended to the NIA Act. At the same time, the central government may also, in consultation with the Chief Justice of the High Court, Calcutta may exercise its power & take up the issue at the earliest so that such trials which are pending under the Act may go ahead speedily & the mandate, as intended by the legislature in its wisdom, reflected from Section 19 of the Act, is being complied with in its letter & spirit".
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