The Supreme Court has held that courts cannot direct accused persons in complaint cases to surrender and seek regular bail, clarifying that there was no apprehension of arrest at the stage of issuance of process.
The Bench of Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan further held that an accused in a complaint case was only required to appear before the Magistrate in response to the summons. In the absence of a non-bailable warrant, police did not have the power to arrest such an accused.
The top court of the country made these observations while hearing an appeal against an order of the Jharkhand High Court, which rejected an anticipatory bail plea in a complaint case. The High Court further directed the appellant to surrender before the trial court, leading to the present appeal before the Supreme Court.
It further raised concerns over the procedural irregularity in Bihar and Jharkhand, where litigants in complaint cases were approaching Sessions Courts and High Courts seeking anticipatory bail on the assumption that issuance of process under Section 204 of the Code of Criminal Procedure or the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita could lead to arrest.
The Apex Court held that anticipatory bail was generally unwarranted in such cases, as the police did not have the authority to take the accused into custody without a specific non-bailable warrant. Directing an accused to surrender and seek regular bail in a complaint case was without jurisdiction, it ruled, adding that such directions resulted in unnecessary litigation and added to the burden on higher courts due to a misapplication of settled legal principles.
The Court further clarified that even where a Magistrate ordered an inquiry under Section 202 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, whether by the police or otherwise, such an inquiry did not authorise the police to arrest the accused. While the High Courts were free to reject anticipatory bail applications, they could not compel the accused to surrender in such cases, it pointed out.
Disposing of the appeal, the Bench directed its Registry to forward a copy of the order to the Registrars General of the High Courts of Bihar and Jharkhand for placing it before their respective Chief Justices.
The post No need for anticipatory bail in complaint cases, courts cannot direct surrender: Supreme Court appeared first on India Legal.