Constitution of India: Arts. 136, 21 – Invocation of jurisdiction under – In a matter involving serious offence of murder, grant of bail by High Court – On appeal, held: Undoubtedly, the protection of personal liberty u/Art. 21 is a constitutional value which has to be respected by the High Court, as indeed by all courts – Equally, in a matter involving serious offence of murder, the liberty of the accused has to be necessarily balanced with the public interest in the administration of criminal justice system which requires that a person who is accused of a crime is held to account – High Court failed to notice relevant considerations and the settled principles while granting bail – Thus, the order of the High Court set aside – Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 – s. 438.
Allowing the appeal, the Court
HELD: There can be no manner of doubt that the protection of personal liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution of India, is a constitutional value which has to be respected by the High Court, as indeed by all courts. Equally, in a matter such as the present, where a serious offence of murder has taken place, the liberty of the accused has to be necessarily balanced with the public interest in the administration of criminal justice system which requires that a person who is accused of a crime is held to account. Having regard to the settled principles which govern the grant of bail in a matter involving a serious offence in a case such as the present, the order of the High Court does not clearly pass muster. In granting bail, the High Court failed to notice relevant considerations which ought to have been, but have not been taken into account. Thus, the impugned judgment and order of the High Court is set aside. [Paras 8, 9][268-A-D] Mahipal vs Rajesh Kumar (2020) 2 SCC 118 – referred to.
As published in the Supreme Court Reports, Supreme Court of India. Text from the Indian Supreme Court Judgments open data set (Dattam Labs), CC BY 4.0.
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