“Avoid Conflicting Decisions in Bail Applications from Same FIR” – Supreme Court to High Courts

In a significant move towards ensuring uniformity in judicial decisions, the Supreme Court of India, while dismissing a special leave petition as withdrawn, made crucial observations on the necessity of maintaining consistency in bail decisions across High Courts.

In the case of Special Leave Petition (Crl.) No.15585 of 2023, the petitioner Rajpal sought to withdraw the petition. The Supreme Court, presided over by Justices C.T. Ravikumar and Sanjay Kumar, acceded to this request but took the opportunity to address a recurring issue concerning the handling of bail applications.

The Court noted, “We have to reiterate the concern of this Court on the lethargy in following the earlier orders in the matter of dealing with bail applications arising out of the same FIR to avoid conflicting decisions.” This observation highlights the Court’s stance on the need for consistency in judicial decision-making, especially in cases involving co-accused from the same FIR.

The judgment referenced a previous situation acknowledged by a three-Judge Bench of the Supreme Court, which observed the inconsistency in bail decisions when similar cases from the same FIR were handled by different judges. The Bench had suggested that all matters pertaining to one FIR should be listed before the same Judge to ensure uniformity in orders.

Further cementing this approach, the Supreme Court has directed the Registrar (Judicial) of its Registry to communicate this order, along with the relevant order dated 31.07.2023 from SLP (Crl.) No.7203 of 2023, to the Registrar (Judicial) of all High Courts.

Date of Decision: 12^th December 2023

RAJPAL VS STATE OF RAJASTHAN