Latest laws Helping good people to do good things.August 13,2017:
SC had sought explanation from the judicial officer but let him off as “bonafide mistake”.
While expressing strong disapproval of a practice of the trial courts granting regular bail to accused while relying on higher courts’ order granting interim anticipatory bail.
Supreme Court has now restrained subordinate courts from passing any such orders while lamenting that it is an abuse of the process of law.
Bench of Justices Ranjan Gogoi and Navin Sinha ruled that such orders of trial court granting bail to accused would end up virtually make the higher court’s order infructuous in case it is finally decided to withdraw the interim protection given to accused by dismissing Application for anticipatory bail .
When regular bail is granted by a Lower courts relying on the strength of the interim/pre-arrest bail granted by the superior court, then even if such superior court decides to dismiss the plea of anticipatory bail after final hearing of the matter, the regular bail granted by the subordinate court would continue to keep the Accused out, consequently rendering the ultimate rejection of the Anticipatory bail by the superior court meaningless said the Bench.
These directions have been issued after it was noted that it had become a regular practice for the accused to surrender before trial court and seek regular bail soon after interim Anticipatory bail was granted by higher Courts.
The Bench therefore directed that a copy of the order be forwarded to all judicial academies in the country to apprise judicial officers exercising criminal jurisdiction in their respective states.
Apex court passed the order after it came to know that a trial court in Jharkhand granted regular bail to an accused after Supreme Court granted her interim protection from being arrested in a criminal matter.
SC quashed the bail granted to the accused and directed her to surrender before the trial court.
