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Prem Giri v. The State of Rajasthan

Criminal Appeal · 2018 INSC 445Decided 2 May 2018
Criminal Appeal No. 662 of 2018
Justice R.K. Agrawal · Justice Abhay Manohar Sapre

Background

The appellant, apprehending arrest in an FIR registered at Jaitaran Police Station, Rajasthan (under IPC Sections 143, 341, 323, 308, 332 and 353), sought anticipatory bail from the Rajasthan High Court, which was dismissed without reasons. The Supreme Court had earlier (14.12.2017) set aside that dismissal and sent the matter back to the High Court for a reasoned decision. On remand, the High Court again dismissed the bail application in a one-line order without discussing facts or giving reasons, apparently without being informed of the Supreme Court's earlier order.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that the High Court's second order suffered from the exact same defect as the first, a complete absence of reasoning, and that the Court's earlier remand order had evidently not been placed before the High Court. The Court allowed the appeal, set aside the High Court's order dated 05.02.2018, and once again remanded the bail application to the High Court, directing it to decide the application afresh on merits and in accordance with law, this time keeping the Supreme Court's earlier order in view.

Lesson Learnt

Courts deciding bail applications must give reasons for their decisions; an unreasoned order, even a brief dismissal, is liable to be set aside, and repeating the same error after a remand only compounds the problem for the litigant.

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

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