Supreme Court directs courts to decide bail pleas within two months

The Supreme Court on Friday directed all High Courts and trial courts to decide on bail and anticipatory bail applications within two months of them being filed, except in cases where the delay is caused by the parties themselves, Live Law reported.

The court also directed High Courts to establish mechanisms to prevent pending bail and anticipatory bail applications from accumulating, the legal news outlet reported.

The bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan emphasised the constitutional importance of personal liberty and held that leaving bail applications pending “directly impinges upon the fundamental right to liberty”, The Indian Express reported.

The court observed that a “prolonged delay in disposal not only frustrates the object of Code of Criminal Procedure, but also amounts to a denial of justice, contrary to the constitutional ethos reflected in Articles 14 and 21”.

Article 14 guarantees equality before the law, and Article 21 protects a person’s right to life and personal freedom.

“The grant or refusal of bail, anticipatory or otherwise, is ordinarily a straightforward exercise, turning on the facts of each case,” the court said. “There is, therefore, no justification for deferring decision-making and allowing a sword of Damocles to hang over the applicant’s head.”

The directives were passed while upholding a Bombay High Court order rejecting anticipatory bail pleas of two Maharashtra...

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