Criminal Law - Bail Cancellation - Non-Appearance of Counsel - Petitioners' bail bonds cancelled and arrest warrants issued due to counsel's failure to appear - Petitioners claimed non-appearance was due to wrongly noted hearing date - Held, purpose of issuing summons, warrants, etc., is to ensure presence of accused for trial - Petitioners' willingness to appear and join proceedings n...
Criminal Law – Extension of Investigation Period – Default Bail – The petitioners challenged the trial court’s order granting a two-month extension for the completion of the investigation and filing of the final report under Section 36A(4) of the NDPS Act, 1985, without issuing notice to the accused. The court held that even though the proviso to Section 36A(4) does not spe...
Criminal Law – Anticipatory Bail – Appeal against the High Court’s order granting anticipatory bail to the respondent accused of sexually assaulting his 12-year-old niece – Supreme Court held that the High Court erred in granting anticipatory bail given the seriousness of the allegations and the statutory presumptions under Section 29 of the POCSO Act – Observations m...
Anticipatory Bail - Repeated Petitions - Clear Role in Grievous Injury - Second petition for anticipatory bail dismissed - Petitioner caused grievous injury with a Kirpan - CCTV footage not conclusive - Number of persons collectively caused injuries - Injury punishable under Section 326 IPC - Petitioner does not deserve anticipatory bail. [Paras 9-10]
Repeated Petitions - Circumstance...
Criminal Procedure - Bail Cancellation - Non-Appearance - Bail cancelled and petitioner declared proclaimed offender due to non-appearance - Petitioner claimed non-appearance due to lack of communication - Household lady not conversant with court proceedings - Bail restored with conditions. [Paras 3-5, 12]
Leniency in Bail Matters - Ensuring Presence for Trial - Analysis - While petit...
Bail – Adequacy of Reasons – Appellant challenged the High Court’s order granting bail to the first respondent – Supreme Court noted that the High Court's order lacked specific reasons and was formulaic – Held, courts must provide clear reasons based on the case's facts when granting bail in serious criminal matters, considering factors such as the crime's...
Bail – Seriousness and Gravity of Offense – Appellant challenged the High Court’s order granting bail to respondent No. 2 – Supreme Court noted that the High Court did not consider the seriousness and gravity of the offense alleged against the respondent, who is facing trial for offenses under Sections 302 and 120B IPC – Held, High Court failed to consider relevant ma...
Criminal Law – NDPS Act – Bail – Conscious Possession – Recovery of narcotics from a polythene bag thrown on the ground by the petitioner when the police approached – Bail granted – Court found it debatable whether the petitioner was in conscious possession of the contraband – The petitioner was not involved in any other case, and all prosecution witnesses...
Constitutional Law – Right to Life and Personal Liberty – Article 21 – Extension of Investigation Period – It is mandatory to produce the accused either physically or virtually when the Court considers an application for extension of the investigation period under Section 167(2) CrPC and Section 20(2) of the GCTOC Act – Failure to do so is not a mere procedural irregu...
Criminal Law – Bail Cancellation – High Court granted bail to the respondent based on parity with co-accused – Supreme Court finds that bail granted to co-accused was previously disapproved – Bail order found to suffer from illegality and impropriety – High Court failed to consider the gravity of the offense and relevant factors – Impugned order set aside [Paras...