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SC expresses shock over denial of hearing to bail plea, pending for a year
On Tuesday, the SC was hearing a bail plea from Chunni Lal Gaba, a Goraya-based multimillionaire businessman, who is an accused in the Bhola drug racket case of 2013
Chandigarh The Supreme Court has expressed its shock over not allowing hearing of a bail matter by the Punjab and Haryana high court, which was pending for over one year.
“Normally, we do not interfere with an interim order passed by the high court, but we are constrained to pass the present order as we are shocked to see that the bail application, under Section 439 of the CrPC, is not being listed for hearing for over one year,” the bench of justice Hemant Gupta and justice V Ramasubramanian said, adding that the accused has a right to hearing of his application for bail and the denial of same is an infringement of his rights and liberty assured to him. Under Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), the high court has special powers regarding consideration of bail.
On Tuesday, the SC was hearing a bail plea from Chunni Lal Gaba, a Goraya-based multimillionaire businessman, who is an accused in the Bhola drug racket case of 2013. The matters regarding hearing of this case have been assigned by high court to a special division bench presided over by justice Rajan Gupta after Supreme Court orders.
Gaba had filed an appeal stating that a request for hearing of an application for bail is pending since February 28, 2020. “During a pandemic, when all courts are making attempts to hear and decide all matters, non-listing of such an application for bail defeats the administration of justice,” the SC bench observed, adding that under the prevailing pandemic, at least half of the judges should sit on alternative days, so that a hearing is accorded to the person in distress.
“Non-listing of application for regular bail, irrespective of seriousness or lack thereof, of the offences attributed to the accused, impinges upon the liberty of the person in custody,” the apex court observed adding that it hoped that the high court will take up the application for bail at an early date. It also asked the registrar general of the high court to bring this order to the notice of the competent authority to take remedial steps at the earliest.
Hearings are restricted at the high court due to the Covid-19 outbreak. On many occasions, lawyers have protested against the HC decision of not assigning more benches for virtual mode and delaying resumption of hearing through physical mode.
At one point, the Punjab and Haryana high court Bar Association had even demanded the transfer of chief justice, RS Jha over the issue.
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The SC was hearing a bail plea from Chunni Lal Gaba, a Goraya-based multimillionaire businessman, who is an accused in the Bhola drug racket case of 2013
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The SC was hearing a bail plea from Chunni Lal Gaba, a Goraya-based multimillionaire businessman, who is an accused in the Bhola drug racket case of 2013
