Supreme Court Rules, 2013 – Interpretation of Order XXII Rule 5 – The instant SLP is filed against the order dated 19.10.2023 passed by the High Court, whereby the Division Bench had refused to extend the period of temporary bail granted to the petitioner – While preferring the present special leave petition, the petitioner also filed an Interlocutory Application seeking exemption from surrendering – The said application was registered by the Registry and stands rejected by the Hon’ble Judge-in-Chamber vide order dated 08.12.2023: Held: The prima facie opinion of this Court is that the Interlocutory Application seeking exemption from surrendering could not have been entertained in the very first instance – This conclusion is based on plain reading and interpretation of Order XXII Rule 5 of the Supreme Court Rules, 2013 – On perusal of the aforesaid Rule, it is clear that an Interlocutory Application for exemption from surrendering is admissible only where the petitioner in the special leave petition has been ‘sentenced to a term of imprisonment’ and not in any other situation – The Registry of this Court has been entertaining applications for exemption from surrendering in various other categories of cases, such as the rejection of anticipatory bail, rejection of a prayer for an extension of interim bail, etc. – This Court is firmly of the opinion that an application seeking exemption from surrendering cannot be entertained or listed before the Hon’ble Judge-in-Chambers in any special leave petition, except where the petitioner has been sentenced to a term of imprisonment – This order shall be placed before Hon’ble the Chief Justice of India for seeking formal instructions to the concerned filing, scrutiny and numbering Sections concerning matters in which Order XXII Rule 5 will apply – Returning to the facts of the present case, since the petitioner has already surrendered upon the rejection of the Interlocutory Application, the present special leave petition challenging the High Court's refusal to extend the temporary bail has become infructuous. [Paras 4, 5, 6, 11]
As published in the Supreme Court Reports, Supreme Court of India. Headnotes prepared by: Ankit Gyan * Ed. Note: Vide subsequent order dated 21st February, 2025, the fact recorded at paragraph Nos. 11 and 12 of Order dated 30th January, 2025 that the accused has surrendered was rectified and the said paragraphs were dire. Text from the Indian Supreme Court Judgments open data set (Dattam Labs), CC BY 4.0.
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