The Supreme Court on Friday said once a person was declared an absconder by a trial court, higher courts should not grant him anticipatory bail.
"It is a settled position of law that where the accused has been declared an absconder and has not cooperated with the investigation, he should not be granted anticipatory bail," said a bench of Chief Justice P Sathasivam and Justices Ranjana P Desai and Ranjan Gogoi.
One Pradeep Sharma was accused of poisoning to death one Rajesh Singh Thakur because of enmity on account of election to the post of sarpanch in Chhindwara in Madhya Pradesh. Thakur died on September 11, 2011 and the accused fled the area.
However, on August 1, 2012, Sharma moved an anticipatory bail plea before the Madhya Pradesh High Court, which was rejected on the ground that custodial interrogation was necessary. On November 21, 2012, arrest warrants were issued against accused Pradeep Sharma, Sudhir Sharma and Naresh Raghuvanshi. As they were not traceable, the trial court declared them proclaimed offenders on November 29, 2012.
However, Pradeep Sharma moved another anticipatory bail application before the HC on January 10 this year and he was granted relief on January 17. In the appeal filed by Madhya Pradesh, senior advocate Vibha Datta Makhija argued that murder charges were filed against the accused and they had been declared absconders. Hence, the HC was not justified in granting anticipatory bail, she said.
Writing the judgment for the bench, CJI Sathasivam said courts should rarely exercise their power to grant anticipatory bail, which should be given only in cases where it is evident that the person has been falsely implicated or he was not likely to misuse his liberty.
After giving this ruling, the bench reversed the HC order and consequently cancelled the bail granted to them by the trial court. The apex court asked the accused to surrender within two weeks.
Article referred: http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-12-07/india/44903958_1_anticipatory-bail-pradeep-sharma-trial-court
"It is a settled position of law that where the accused has been declared an absconder and has not cooperated with the investigation, he should not be granted anticipatory bail," said a bench of Chief Justice P Sathasivam and Justices Ranjana P Desai and Ranjan Gogoi.
One Pradeep Sharma was accused of poisoning to death one Rajesh Singh Thakur because of enmity on account of election to the post of sarpanch in Chhindwara in Madhya Pradesh. Thakur died on September 11, 2011 and the accused fled the area.
However, on August 1, 2012, Sharma moved an anticipatory bail plea before the Madhya Pradesh High Court, which was rejected on the ground that custodial interrogation was necessary. On November 21, 2012, arrest warrants were issued against accused Pradeep Sharma, Sudhir Sharma and Naresh Raghuvanshi. As they were not traceable, the trial court declared them proclaimed offenders on November 29, 2012.
However, Pradeep Sharma moved another anticipatory bail application before the HC on January 10 this year and he was granted relief on January 17. In the appeal filed by Madhya Pradesh, senior advocate Vibha Datta Makhija argued that murder charges were filed against the accused and they had been declared absconders. Hence, the HC was not justified in granting anticipatory bail, she said.
Writing the judgment for the bench, CJI Sathasivam said courts should rarely exercise their power to grant anticipatory bail, which should be given only in cases where it is evident that the person has been falsely implicated or he was not likely to misuse his liberty.
After giving this ruling, the bench reversed the HC order and consequently cancelled the bail granted to them by the trial court. The apex court asked the accused to surrender within two weeks.
Article referred: http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-12-07/india/44903958_1_anticipatory-bail-pradeep-sharma-trial-court
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