Judicial officers cannot review own orders: Court

Judicial officers, including magistrates, cannot review their own orders, a Delhi court has said while taking serious note of grant and subsequent cancellation of bail to an accused.

Judicial officers, including magistrates, cannot review their own orders, a Delhi court has said while taking serious note of grant and subsequent cancellation of bail to an accused.

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It is a settled legal position that a Magistrate cannot review his own order," Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Santosh Snehi Mann said.

The court's observation came on a petition of an accused whose hope to come out of prison dashed within two hours of the grant of bail as the magistrate changed his order after he failed to comply with the procedural formalities.

The court not only reversed the magistrate's order but went further by saying "even filing of the chargesheet subsequent to bail order is no ground to its cancellation."

Accused Rahul Kumar had filed the plea before the ASJ against the order of the magistrate saying his bail was canceled within two hours on the ground that he failed to furnish the bail bond.

The magistrate also took note of subsequent filing of the chargesheet in that case as a ground of revoking the bail, the petition said.

Rahul and co-accused Rajesh Kumar Jha were in judicial custody after their arrest on August 12, 2010. An FIR was lodged against them at IP Estate police station here.

They were granted bail on October, 12 on a statutory ground as the police failed to file the chargesheet within stipulated 60 days period.

Rahul said while the co-accused furnished the bond, he requested for some time to furnish the same. The plea was rejected on the ground that in the meantime, the IO, had filed the chargesheet.

The ASJ allowed his plea.