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Jahir Hak vs. The State of Rajasthan

Criminal Appeal · 2022 INSC 412Decided 11 Apr 2022
Criminal Appeal No. 605 of 2022
K.M. Joseph · Hrishikesh Roy

Background

Jahir Hak was arrested in 2014 and charged under several provisions of the UAPA in connection with an alleged terror sleeper-cell case, with the prosecution intending to examine 109 witnesses. After nearly 8 years in custody as an undertrial, with only a handful of witnesses examined and a trial court report indicating the trial could take another 2-3 years to conclude, his bail application (rejected by the High Court) reached the Supreme Court, which had already monitored the case's progress through several earlier orders.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court noted that of the witnesses examined so far, one had turned hostile and the depositions of the other two did not implicate the appellant in any way, according to the State's own concession. Relying on its earlier ruling in Union of India v. K.A. Najeeb, the Court held that prolonged incarceration without any realistic prospect of a speedy trial can justify bail even under a stringent statute like the UAPA, since the constitutional right to a speedy trial overrides the statute's restrictive bail conditions in such circumstances. It allowed the appeal and directed that the appellant be released on bail on conditions to be fixed by the trial court, clarifying that this was solely a bail decision and would not influence the eventual trial outcome.

Lesson Learnt

Even under statutes with strict bail conditions like the UAPA, an undertrial's right to a speedy trial can outweigh those restrictions where prolonged pre-trial detention, slow trial progress, and weak evidence against the accused so far make continued incarceration unjust.

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

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