Andhra Pradesh High Court Issues Guidelines For Prompt Transmission Of Bail Orders

While granting bail to an accused under The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, the Andhra Pradesh High Court took serious note of the significant delay in issuing the certified copies of the orders. This Court observed that despite the conscious recognition of several pending cases, it is difficult to issue the order copies within a short period due to staff shortage.

Justice Lalitha Kanneganti suggested evolving an alternative mechanism to address the plight of these undertrial prisoners/accused, referring to a decision of the Supreme Court, where it has taken cognizance of the issue. Last week, the Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana expressed the Court's willingness to evolve a system to electronically transmit bail orders directly to prisons so that prison authorities will not delay the release of prisoners awaiting a certified copy of the order. Accordingly, a scheme called FASTER- Fast and Secure Transmission of Electronic Record is being considered, which will be used to communicate all orders to concerned jail authorities without waiting.

In furtherance, the High Court noted,

"Protection of personal liberty of an individual is undeniably a constitutional duty of this Court. Our criminal justice system always gives paramount consideration to the protection of the rights of the accused. Article 21 of the Constitution of India mandates that the personal liberty of an accused can be curtailed only after strict compliance with the procedure established by law."

It also referred to the safeguards available to personal liberty under Sections 438 and 439 of Cr.P.C. In several cases, it remarked that the Apex Court had held speedy adjudication process to be one of the main facets that 4 constitute the essence of access to justice. Without it, access to justice as a constitutional value will be a mere illusion.

The Court noted that a denial of this right undermines public confidence in the justice delivery system. It is constitutional liberty that the accused has the right to get his bail application heard by the Court within a reasonable time. However, disposal of bail application without furnishing the order copy within a reasonable time will not place the accused in a better position. The Court noted,

"Mere emphasizing that an accused has an indefeasible fundamental right to bail itself is not sufficient without furnishing the copy of the order. This is high time the Courts shall address these issues with a progressive approach by adopting the innovative methods."

The Court mentioned the recent initiative of the High Court of implementing a procedure whereby the concerned Court Masters are uploading the daily proceedings/orders/judgments on the same day.

Thereby, the Court issued 9-point guidelines as under:

a. Parties/Advocates shall download the order copy from the High Court's Website along with case details which are available in the case status information.

b. While filing the memo on behalf of the accused of furnishing sureties, the Advocate shall State in the memo that he/she has downloaded the order copy from the High Court's Website. The concerned Administrative Officer / Chief Ministerial Officer of the Court shall verify the order from the High Court's Website and make an endorsement to that effect and then shall place the same before the Court.

c. The Public Prosecutor shall also obtain necessary instructions in this regard and assist the Court.

d. The Presiding Officer on the same day shall dispose of the same and dispatch the release order to the concerned jail authorities forthwith through email or any other electronic mode.

e. In cases of anticipatory bail, the burden to verify the authenticity of the copy is on the concerned Station House Officer, and if necessary, he should obtain necessary instructions from the Public Prosecutor's Office and complete the process on the same day expeditiously as per law.

f. Registrar (Judicial) shall communicate a copy of this order to (1) The Principal Secretary for Home Affairs, Andhra Pradesh; (2) The Director-General of Police, Andhra Pradesh; (3) The Director of Prosecution, who in turn shall sensitize the Police Officers / Station House Officers / Public Prosecutors and ensure implementation of this order.

g. Registrar (Judicial) shall communicate a copy of this order to all the Principal District Judges in the State, who in turn shall sensitize all the Presiding Officers and ensure implementation of this order.

h. Registrar (Judicial) is further directed to circulate the copy of this order to all the Bar Associations in the State through the Principal District Judges so that they can effectively address their clients' cause.

i. Registrar (Judicial) shall also issue a separate notification in this regard, and the same shall be displayed on the High Court's Website.

The Court directed the Judicial Officers in the State to bring to the notice of the Registrar (Judicial) the issues/hitches in implementing the directions.

It further directed that in case of anticipatory bails, the Police Officials shall bring to the notice of the Public Prosecutor, the High Court, about the difficulties in implementing the orders of this Court. Furthermore, the Court directed the Public Prosecutor to place the same before this Court by the next hearing date.

Title: Korra Bhaskara Rao v. The State of Andhra Pradesh

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