If prima facie case established then court should not go deep into merits of matter while considering an application for bail

In State of Orissa Vs. Mahimananda Mishra, appeal was filed before the Supreme Court against the order of the Orissa High Court granting bail to the defendant.

The objection of the state was that the defendant after filing of the FIR against him, had surreptitiously left the country and being a rich and influential person can do so again and may influence the witnesses if allowed to go free. Also there is through letters and other evidences, proving that there existed serious animosity between the defendant and the deceased and that there are several major criminal cases pending against him.

The High Court proceeded to grant bail to the respondent on the ground that there is no prima facie material against the respondent to establish his involvement in the conspiracy to murder the deceased, that the undated letter of the deceased addressed to the police showing apprehension to his life cannot be treated as a dying declaration; the material on record does not indicate any motive on the part of the respondent to conspire towards the commission of murder in question, and that the confessions of the coaccused cannot be made used of against the respondent at this stage, inasmuch as they are admissible only to the extent that they lead to recoveries under Section 27 of the Indian Evidence Act.

The advocate for the defendant argued that merely on apprehension of the police, without any prima facie proof, the liberty of the respondent cannot be curtailed. 

The Supreme Court set aside the order of the High Court and while referring to the judgment of the Supreme Court in Anil Kumar Yadav vs. State (NCT) of Delhi, held that it is by now well settled that at the time of considering an application for bail, the Court must take into account certain factors such as the existence of a prima facie case against the accused, the gravity of the allegations, position and status of the accused, the likelihood of the accused fleeing from justice and repeating the offence, the possibility of tampering with the witnesses and obstructing the Courts as well as the criminal antecedents of the accused. It is also well settled that the Court must not go into deep into merits of the matter while considering an application for bail. All that needs to be established from the record is the existence of a prima facie case against the accused.