The Supreme Court of India recently requested the Chief Justice of Bombay High Court to convey to all the Judges exercising criminal jurisdiction to decide matters pertaining to bail/anticipatory bail as expeditiously as possible.
Bench comprising Justice BR Gavai and Justice Sandeep Mehta said that Article 21 of the Constitution of India is the soul of the Constitution as the liberty of a citizen is of paramount importance.
The Bench further noted that not deciding a matter pertaining to liberty of a citizen expeditiously and shunting away the matter on one or the other ground would deprive the party of their precious right guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution of India.
The Court came across various matters from the Bombay High Court where bail/anticipatory bail applications were not being decided expeditiously.
The Court observed that, "We have also come across one matter SLP Crl….@ Diary No.1540/2024 (Ashok Balwant Patil v. Mohan Madhukar Patil and Ors), wherein the application for anticipatory bail was not decided for a period of more than four years. We have also come across numerous matters wherein the learned Judges are not deciding the matter on merits but find an excuse to shunt the case on different grounds."
The Court directed the Registrar (Judicial) concerned of the Apex Court to communicate this order to the Registrar (Judicial) of the High Court, who shall place the same before the Chief Justice of High Court of Bombay.