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Upendra Sharma v. The State of Bihar

Criminal Appeal · 2018 INSC 17Decided 10 Jan 2018
Criminal Appeal No. 57 of 2018
Justice Kurian Joseph · Justice Amitava Roy

Background

The appellant had been granted regular bail by a Trial Court. The complainant (Respondent No. 2) then applied to the High Court for cancellation of that bail, and the High Court, acting on that application, issued a non-bailable warrant of arrest against the appellant. The appellant challenged that warrant before the Supreme Court.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that, going by the correct legal procedure, there was no justification for the High Court to have issued a non-bailable warrant of arrest merely on an application for cancellation of bail. It set aside the impugned order issuing the warrant, allowing the appellant to appear before the High Court and contest the bail-cancellation application on its merits, with the High Court free to decide that application afresh. The appeal itself, the specific challenge to the warrant, was thus fully and finally allowed; it was only the separate, underlying bail-cancellation application that was left for the High Court to decide.

Lesson Learnt

A court should not jump straight to issuing a non-bailable arrest warrant against someone who is already on bail simply because the other side has asked for the bail to be cancelled: the person is entitled to appear and be heard on that application before coercive steps like an arrest warrant are used.

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

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