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Senior Intelligence Officer v. Mohammed Kamran

Criminal Appeal · 2026 INSC 1140Decided 16 Oct 2026
Criminal Appeal arising out of SLP (Crl.) No. 7504 of 2026
Justice Dipankar Datta · Justice Sheel Nagu

Background

A trader accused of issuing fake invoices and fraudulently claiming input tax credit (alleged loss over Rs. 43 crore) was arrested in September 2025. While pursuing bail in multiple forums simultaneously, he obtained bail from a High Court Single Judge during the court's winter vacation, without disclosing to that judge that his bail had already been rejected elsewhere.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court found the accused had engaged in "forum shopping," concealing prior rejections from the judge who ultimately granted him bail, and that the matter had been listed during vacation without adequate notice to the opposing side. Rather than cancelling bail outright, the Court set aside the High Court's disposal and directed the matter be reheard afresh by the same judge, with the accused continuing on interim bail meanwhile. It also laid down a general rule that "two weeks hence" listing directions should normally exclude vacation days.

Lesson Learnt

Litigants seeking bail must disclose all parallel proceedings and prior rejections to every court they approach: concealing an unfavourable order elsewhere can get an otherwise-favourable order reopened.

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

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