Factors Like Gravity & Seriousness Of Alleged Offence By Themselves Cannot Be The Basis To Refuse Bail: SC [Read Judgment]

The Supreme Court has observed that the factors like gravity and seriousness of offences alleged against an accused by themselves cannot be the basis for refusal of prayer for bail.

The bench of Justice Deepak Gupta and Justice Aniruddha Bose made this observation while dismissing appeal against an Allahabad High Court order that granted bail to two accused persons allegedly involved in a murder case.

Referring to a recent judgment of the Apex Court that dealt with the scope of jurisdiction of the appellate Court in setting aside an order of granting bail, the bench observed:

The two key factors for interfering with such an order are non-application of mind on the part of the Court granting bail or the opinion of the Court in granting bail is not borne out from a prima facie view of the evidence on record

Perusing the High Court order, the bench observed that there has been no wrong or improper exercise of discretion on the part of the High Court in granting bail to the accused. . The materials available do not justify arriving at the conclusion that the order impugned suffers from non-application of mind or the reason for granting bail is not borne out from a prima-facie view of the evidence on record, it added. Dismissing the appeal, the bench further said:

The offence alleged no doubt is grave and serious and there are several criminal cases pending against the accused. These factors by themselves cannot be the basis for refusal of prayer for bail.   

Case name: Prabhakar Tewari vs. State of UP
Case no.: CRIMINAL APPEAL NO.153-154 OF 2020
Coram: Justice Deepak Gupta and Justice Aniruddha Bose

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