Supreme Court Questions Practice Of Some Trial Courts To Remand Accused The Moment They Appear In Response To Summons

The Supreme Court has noted that in some parts of the country, trial courts follow the practise of remanding the accused when they appear in response of a summoning order. Therefore, accused persons apprehend arrest even in cases when the investigating agencies are not seeking their custody.

A bench comprising Justices V Ramasubramanian and Pankaj Mithal therefore observed that the practice followed by Courts to remand the accused to custody, the moment they appear in response to the summoning order has to be tested in an appropriate case. The bench made this observation while granting anticipatory bail to an accused. Although the CBI was not seeking custody, the accused apprehending arrest at the behest of the trial court.

"the appellants apprehend arrest, not at the behest of the CBI but at the behest of the Trial Court. This is for the reason that in some parts of the country, there seems to be a practice followed by Courts to remand the accused to custody, the moment they appear in response to the summoning order. The correctness of such a practice has to be tested in an appropriate case", the bench observed in the order while granting pre-arrest bail to the appellants.

In 2021, the Supreme Court had held in Siddharth vs. State of Uttar Pradesh had held that the practice of some Trial Courts of insisting on the arrest of an accused as a pre-requisite formality to take the charge-sheet on record is misplaced and contrary to the very intent of Section 170 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

Recently, the Supreme Court had expressed anguish that many trial courts were acting in violation of the judgment in Siddharth vs State of UP.

Supreme Court Warns Magistrates Who Don't Follow Judgments On Bail; Says They Might Be Taken Off From Judicial Work & Sent For Training

Cause Title- Mahdoom Bava v. Central Bureau of Investigation 

Citation : 2023 LiveLaw (SC) 218

Code of Criminal Procedure 1973- Remand- There seems to be a practice followed by Courts to remand the accused to custody, the moment they appear in response to the summoning order. The correctness of such a practice has to be tested in an appropriate case - Para 10

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