'Give Complete Details Of Criminal Antecedents Of Bail Applicants In Bail Orders': Rajasthan High Court Directs Trial Courts

The Bench of Justice Pushpendra Singh Bhati issued the above-said direction while hearing the Bail Application of an Accused who had no criminal antecedents.

The Court further directed,

"If there are antecedents of the accused, then the complete details of the antecedents i.e. FIR Number(s) & Case Number(s), Section(s), date(s), status and date of arrest & release on any previous occasion, if any, in the chart form shall be prepared and incorporated in the learned trial courts' order, while granting or dismissing the bail application."

The Case before the Court

The Bail Applicant-Accused before the Court was arrested in for the offences punishable under Section 392/34 of IPC. The Court granted him bail and thus, his application filed under Section 439 Cr.P.C. was allowed.

However, the Court in its order noted that there was no mention regarding the status of criminal antecedents of the Accused-Bail applicant in the impugned order.

To this, the Court said,

"It is often seen by this Court that the learned courts below are not specific in regard to antecedents of the accused persons, which causes a delay in the disposal of the bail applications, as if the person is not having antecedents and his antecedents are called, receiving of such antecedents reports takes quite some time."

The Court further remarked,

"Though the antecedent alone is not a ground of rejecting or accepting a bail, but it is must that the Hon'ble High Court should have the antecedent report to check the applicability of Section 437 (1) of Cr.P.C. as well as to weigh the case of the accused person with an overall perspective of the allegations levelled."

Subsequently, the Court directed that its order be conveyed by the Registry of the Court to all learned District & Sessions Judges of the State, "who shall ensure the immediate implementation of this order amongst all the judicial officers and all courts in their respective jurisdiction, which are hearing the bail applications."

"The detailed antecedents report in the aforesaid format so provided in the trial courts' order shall be the requirement of disposal of any bail application in the state of Rajasthan", said the Court

It has also been directed that the Public Prosecutors all over the State "shall call for the antecedents report well in advance in every case of bail, so as to enable the courts to have definite and correct information regarding previous criminal antecedents of the accused."