New Delhi: The Supreme Court has ruled that anticipatory bail granted to an accused cannot be cancelled by a court unless sufficient material is placed before it to justify the same.
"The court is free to refuse anticipatory bail in any
case if there is material before it to justify such a
refusal," a bench of Justices D K Jain and R M Lodha said in a
judgement.
But if no material is placed justifying the
cancellation, the bail cannot be cancelled, the apex court
said.
The apex court passed the judgement while upholding an
appeal filed by Savitri Aggarwal and her family members
challenging the Bombay High Court's decision to cancel the
anticipatory bail granted to them by the sessions court in
Amaravati in a dowry death case.
The high court had cancelled the anticipatory bail
after Maharashtra government challenged the same. Aggrieved by
the cancellation, the accused appealed in the apex court.
Citing the various parameters laid down by the
Constitution Bench in the Gurbaksh Singh Sibbia case, the apex
court said though the power conferred under Section 438 of
(grant of anticipatory bail) the Code (CrPC) can be described
as of an extraordinary character, the same does not justify
the conclusion that the power must be exercised only in
exceptional cases.
Courts can impose appropriate conditions while
granting the anticipatory bail the bench said.
"While granting relief under Section 438(1) of the
Code, appropriate conditions can be imposed under Section
438(2) so as to ensure uninterrupted investigation," the apex
court said citing the observations in the Constitution
bench ruling.
Similarly, the apex court cited the ruling to say that
filing of a First Information Report (FIR) is also not
necessary for granting an anticipatory bail.
An anticipatory bail can be granted even after FIR is
filed as long as the applicant has not been arrested, the apex
court added.
Bureau Report
First Published: Wednesday, July 22, 2009, 23:18