Parvesh Mann @ Sagar vs. State (NCT of Delhi)
Background
The accused sought regular bail in a murder case (with charges also under the Arms Act). The application had been transferred to this particular bench on the accused's own request, on the stated basis that a related revision petition was pending there. When the matter came up, the prosecution revealed that the accused had actually filed three earlier bail applications, including one regular bail application, that had all been dismissed by a different judge, facts the defence had not disclosed when requesting the transfer.
Decision Breakdown
The defence claimed only "interim" bail applications had been dismissed by the other judge, but court records produced on the spot showed that one of the dismissed applications was in fact for regular bail. The Court held this was a clear case of "forum shopping", concealing an unfavourable history from one judge in order to get a fresh, more favourable hearing before another, and dismissed the bail application (along with the accompanying application) on that ground, deprecating such conduct.
Lesson Learnt
Deliberately concealing the outcome of earlier bail applications while seeking to have a matter heard by a different judge is treated by courts as impermissible forum shopping and can itself be a ground for outright dismissal, regardless of the merits.