The Supreme Court granted bail to the Petitioner who had been incarcerated for more than three and a half years, severely criticizing the Allahabad High Court for adjourning bail matters on 43 occasions. The Bench comprising the Chief Justice and Justice N.V. Anjaria observed that they do not appreciate the tendency of the High Court to adjourn the matters pertaining to personal liberty of a citizen on such a large number of occasions.
The bail petitions were vehemently opposed by the Central Bureau of Investigation, on the ground that a grant of bail by the Supreme Court while the applications were pending before the High Court would set a wrong precedent. However, the Petitioner, relied on an earlier order passed by the Supreme Court on May 22, 2025 in the case of a co-accused.
The Court observed that in the order dated 22.05.2025 passed in SLP(C) No.5480/2025, it had been noted that normally the matter would not have been entertained if the application was pending before the High Court. However, in that matter, relief had been granted taking into consideration that the matter before the High Court had been adjourned on 27 occasions. It was further found that in the present case the matter had been adjourned on 43 occasions, representing significantly a larger number. It had been observed that matters relating to personal liberty should be entertained by the Courts with utmost speed. Strong disapproval was expressed regarding the High Court’s conduct, noting that the tendency to repeatedly adjourn personal liberty cases to such an extent was not appreciated.
Accordingly, the Supreme Court granted bail, subject to the satisfaction of the Trial Court, and disposed of the special leave petitions, rendering the petitioner’s pending applications before the High Court infructuous.
Appearances:
Petitioner: Mr. Yashraj Singh Deora, Sr. Adv., Mr. Harshvardhan Jha, Adv., Mrs. Yugandhara Pawar Jha, AOR, Mr. Aman Pathak, Adv., Mr. Priyesh Mohan Srivastava, Adv.
Respondent: Mr. S.D Sanjay, A.S.G., Mr. Mukesh Kumar Maroria, AOR, Mr. Akshay Amritanshu, Adv., Mr. Praneet Pranav, Adv., Mr. Madhav Sinhal, Adv.
