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Mohammad Azam Khan vs The State of Uttar Pradesh

Writ Petition (Criminal) · 2022 INSC 599Decided 19 May 2022
Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 39 of 2022
L. Nageswara Rao · B.R. Gavai · A.S. Bopanna

Background

The petitioner, a politician facing 87 criminal FIRs, had earlier approached the Supreme Court and was granted liberty to seek expeditious disposal of pending bail applications. He was subsequently granted bail in almost all cases, but one FIR (registered in 2020 for cheating/forgery-type offences, in which he was not originally named as an accused) was suddenly used to implicate and arrest him just as he was expected to be granted bail in his last pending matter. He sought interim bail in this new FIR and quashing of proceedings against him.

Decision Breakdown

The Court noted that although it would not ordinarily entertain a writ petition bypassing the regular bail process, the facts here were "very peculiar": the petitioner had been implicated in the 2020 FIR only after a delay of about 1 year and 7 months, on the very day the Court had adjourned his pending bail matter in a different case, and shortly before the Allahabad High Court in fact granted him bail in that other matter. Observing that the timing appeared to be more than coincidental (including a threat allegation against the Investigating Officer registered suspiciously on the date of the hearing), and invoking its special powers under Article 142 of the Constitution, the Court granted the petitioner interim bail in the new FIR, directing him to apply for regular bail within two weeks, with the interim bail continuing until that application is decided.

Lesson Learnt

While the Supreme Court will not normally bypass the ordinary bail process, it can and will use its extraordinary Article 142 powers to protect personal liberty where the surrounding facts and timing of a new criminal implication suggest it may be a device to keep a person incarcerated rather than a genuine, timely prosecution.

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

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