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Rakesh Kumar v. The State of Uttar Pradesh & Ors.

Criminal Appeal · 2021 INSC 541Decided 24 Sept 2021
Criminal Appeal No. 1078 of 2021
Justice Uday Umesh Lalit · Justice S. Ravindra Bhat

Background

The appellant faced an FIR under the Prevention of Corruption Act. He had unsuccessfully challenged the sanction order and then sought quashing of the FIR itself through a writ petition before the Allahabad High Court, which was rejected. He then approached the Supreme Court, which while issuing notice in 2019 had confined the question to whether he needed to be arrested, given that the investigation appeared complete.

Decision Breakdown

By the time of this order, non-bailable warrants had been issued against the appellant, but the State confirmed the investigation was complete. The Supreme Court directed the appellant to present himself before the trial court within seven days with advance notice to the Public Prosecutor, and directed the trial court to release him on bail on appropriate conditions to secure his presence in the proceedings. The appeal was allowed in these terms, without quashing the underlying criminal proceedings.

Lesson Learnt

Where an investigation is already complete, courts may protect an accused from arrest by directing that they be granted bail upon voluntary appearance, rather than requiring them to surrender to custody first.

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

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