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Arshad @ Syed Ahmed Arshad v. State of Punjab

Criminal Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Criminal Appeal No. 1164 of 2015)Decided 7 Sept 2015
Criminal Appeal No. 1164 of 2015
Justice Anil R. Dave · Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel

Background

The appellant approached the Supreme Court by special leave against proceedings in Punjab, seeking protection from arrest. The Court granted leave to appeal and heard counsel on the specific relief sought, whether the appellant should be enlarged on bail if arrested.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court directed that if the appellant is arrested, he shall be released on bail on conditions to be fixed by the concerned trial court. As a condition, it ordered the appellant to deposit a total of Rs.50 lakhs with the trial court in two instalments (Rs.25 lakhs within two weeks, and a further Rs.7.5 lakhs within eight weeks), with this deposit made "without rights and contentions" of either side and subject to the trial court's final order. The appellant was also directed to cooperate with the investigation, and with these directions the appeal (and any pending applications) was disposed of.

Lesson Learnt

A conditional pre-arrest bail order from the Supreme Court can require a substantial monetary deposit with the trial court as a safeguard, without prejudging the merits of the underlying criminal case or either side's rights in the trial itself.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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