The Hon’ble Allahabad High Court in the instant case reiterated that the right of an accused to have his bail application heard by the Court within a reasonable time has been entrenched as constitutional liberty. It further stated by the Hon’ble court that according to pronouncements of Constitutional Courts, the right flows from Article 21 of the Indian Constitution. (Ajeet Chaudhary Versus. The State of U.P. and another reported at 2021 (1) ADJ 559).
The Hon’ble Bench comprising of Hon’ble Justice Ajay Bhanot further remarked that despite ample time being given to the police authorities, Instructions from the police authorities were not available with the Additional Government Advocate (hereinafter referred to as “A.G.A”). Consequently, bail application cannot be heard in the absence of A.G.A presenting full facts of the case which in turn is leading to delay in hearing of bail application of accused.
Following are the Contentions of learned counsel for the applicant:
- Learned counsel for the applicant Sri. Santosh Kumar Shukla contends that the F.I.R under Section. 394 of The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 was lodged after 7 days of the incident which is fatal for the case. There is the false recovery of some articles from the accused without independent witnesses for recovery. It is lastly submitted by the learned counsel for the applicant that the applicant shall not abscond and co-operate with the proceedings.
- It is further contended that Learned A.G.A could not satisfactorily dispute the aforesaid submissions from the record and does not have instructions from police officials despite the ample amount of time given for the same.
Henceforth, the Hon’ble Bench directed The Director General of Police, U.P. Police to ensure that a fair, transparent, and clear procedure for supplying instructions to the GA/AGA in bail applications before the Hon’ble High Court is created and implemented across the State of U.P.
It further added that not following the orders given by the Hon’ble court is a disrespect to the Hon’ble courts by the senior-most officials which also have grave consequences on the rule of law in the country.
Lastly, on the merits, submissions made by Sri Santosh Kumar Shukla learned counsel for the applicant is considered by the Hon’ble court and likewise the bail has been furnished/granted to the applicant.
