The Madhya Pradesh High Court granted suspension of sentence and bail to a murder convict while strongly criticising the conduct of the State’s counsel for appearing unprepared and failing to assist the Court.
A Division Bench of Justices Vivek Agarwal and Ratnesh Chandra Singh Bisen was hearing applications in a criminal appeal challenging a 2017 conviction under Sections 302/34 and 323/34 IPC.
The Court granted bail to appellant (Accused No. 7), noting that his name did not figure in the FIR and no specific role had been attributed to him. Considering the likelihood of delay in disposal of the appeal, the Court held it to be a fit case for suspension of sentence pending final adjudication.
However, the Bench refused relief to co-accused (Accused No. 5), citing strong incriminating material, including an FSL report indicating the presence of human blood on the weapon recovered from him, along with eyewitness evidence supporting his involvement.
Significantly, the Court came down heavily on the State’s counsel, observing that Government Advocate was not prepared with the case, had not read the file, and failed to answer any questions posed by the Court. Terming the issue as “serious,” the Bench stressed that the State must ensure its counsels are adequately prepared and that appointments should be based solely on merit rather than any extraneous considerations.
The Court directed that a copy of the order be sent to the Chief Secretary of Madhya Pradesh to take appropriate action and to review the panel of government advocates by assessing their competence to effectively assist the Court.
Appearances:
Shri Ram Prakash Yadav, Advocate for appellants.
Shri Kamal Singh Baghel, Government Advocate for State.
