"Accused Has Right To Hearing Of His Bail Application" Supreme Court Expresses Shock Over Bail Plea Not Being Listed For A Year

Supreme Court has on Tuesday observed that the accused has a right of hearing of his application for bail and denial of the same is an infringement of his right and liberty.

"The accused has a right to hearing of his application for bail. In fact, the denial of hearing is an infringement of right and liberty assured to an accused." the Bench said.

While observing that the Court normally does not interfere with an interim order passed by the High Court, the Bench stated that it is "constrained to pass the present order as they are shocked to see that theSupreme Courtunder Section 439 CrPC is not being listed for hearing for more than one year."

A division Bench of Justice Hemant Gupta and Justice V Ramasubramanian has made the observation while hearing a special leave petition filed against order declining the request for hearing of an application for bail under Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, pending since 28th Feb 2020.

The Bench has stated that it hopes the High Court will be able to take up the application for bail at an early date so that the right of the accused of hearing of application for bail is not taken away by not entertaining such application on the mentioning memo.

The Bench noted that even during the pandemic, when all Courts are making attempts to hear and decide all matter, non-listing of such an application for bail defeats the administration of justice.

According to the Bench, during the prevailing pandemic at least half of the judges should sit on alternative days so that 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 Court has said.

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