The Supreme Court has observed that inordinate adjournment in bail matters is detrimental to personal right to liberty and Courts are expected to consider them with priority to draw conclusion.
The Division Bench comprising of Justice A.S. Bopanna and Justice Hima Kohli emphasized:
"when a person is before the Court and that too in a matter involving personal liberty, least what is expected is for such a person to be given the result one way or the other, based on the merit of his case and not push him to a position of uncertainty or be condemned without being heard, when it matters."
The petitioner's main grievance was that the High Court merely admitted the anticipatory bail application filed by him with a further direction to list in due course, but did not consider his I.A. seeking interim protection during pendency of the bail application although co-accused in the same FIR has been granted interim protection from arrest till the final disposal of application for anticipatory bail by the High Court.
His Counsel submitted that Learned Counsel for the petitioner submitted that till date, the matter has not been listed for hearing and no order has been passed about the interim protection during the pendency of the anticipatory bail application filed by his client. Learned counsel further submitted that if the petitioner is arrested during the pendency of anticipatory bail application, it would become infructuous and his legal right will be defeated. He therefore seeks to ensure that the matter is heard by the High Court and the valuable right of the petitioner be protected.
The Court upon hearing the facts of the case, disapproved the course adopted by the High Court as a matter of procedure.
When an application for anticipatory bail was listed before the learned Single Judge, which was also accompanied by an application for ad-interim relief, the learned Judge should have decided the same one way or the other, so far as the ad-interim prayer or should have taken up for consideration after giving some reasonable time to the State. Even if admitted, the learned Judge should have listed the same for final disposal on a specific date, keeping in view the nature of relief sought in the matter. Not giving any specific date, particularly in a matter relating to anticipatory bail, is not a procedure which can be countenanced."
The Court added that this type of indefinite adjournment in a matter relating to anticipatory bail, that too after admitting it, is detrimental to the valuable right of a person.
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(With input from news agency language)
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