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SK. Supiyan @ Suffiyan @ Supisan vs. The Central Bureau of Investigation

Criminal Appeal · 2022 INSC 168Decided 9 Feb 2022
Criminal Appeal No. 198 of 2022
L. Nageswara Rao · Abhay S. Oka

Background

The appellant sought anticipatory bail in an FIR registered at Nandigram police station, West Bengal, after one Debabrata Maity died from injuries sustained in an alleged mob attack. The appellant was not named in the original FIR, and the CBI (which took over investigation) did not name him as an accused in either of the two charge sheets it filed. The Calcutta High Court had denied him anticipatory bail, relying on later-recorded witness statements implicating him, and he appealed to the Supreme Court.

Decision Breakdown

The Court noted that although the CBI relied on statements of five witnesses recorded under Section 164 CrPC, the appellant was never named as an accused in either charge sheet even after some of these statements were recorded, and two of the witness statements were recorded only belatedly (in January 2022, after the bail plea was filed). Weighing these peculiar facts, the delay and inconsistency in implicating the appellant, the Court held that he deserved pre-arrest bail, while making clear it was not deciding the merits of the underlying allegations. The High Court's order refusing bail was set aside, and bail was granted subject to full cooperation with the investigation and conditions under Section 438(2) CrPC, with the bail liable to cancellation if the appellant failed to cooperate.

Lesson Learnt

Courts scrutinise the timing and consistency of witness statements and charge sheets when deciding anticipatory bail: a person not named as an accused in charge sheets filed after key witness statements were recorded has a stronger case for bail, even in a serious offence, provided they commit to cooperating with the investigation.

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

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