Chaini Parwani –
Published On: October 22, 2021 at 16:30 IST
The Kerala High Court prolonged the time limit instituted on the Anticipatory Bail, granted by the Sessions Court, Thiruvananthapuram to former Director-General of Police DGP Siby Mathews till October 27.
A Bench of Justice K Haripal extended the pre-arrest Bail for additional three days and adjourned the case for a hearing on October 27.
Siby Mathews had filed a Petition challenging the Sessions Court’s Order.
The Sessions Court had passed a Notification on August 24 held stating “After a period of 60 days from the date of this order, the petitioner has to resort to remedies provided in Section 437 or 439 of the CrPC or such other remedies as are advised to him.”
Senior Advocate P Vijayabhanu highlighted that the 60 days granted by the Sessions Court will expire on October 24. Although, the Central Bureau Investigation’s counsel prayed time to claim the matter.
Further Siby Mathews argued that the time limit given on the pre-arrest Bail granted to him must be set aside, as it was in violation of the law settled by the Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court had held that an Order granting Bail should not be restricted to a specified period and the duration of an Order of Anticipatory Bail may proceed till the end of the Trial.
Furthermore, Mathews stated that he is compatible with the probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation New Delhi unit.
Mathews further observed that the investigation was relevant to note that the allegations associated to incidents that had occurred in 1994 and hence, the Custodial Interrogation of the Petitioner may not be necessary to investigate the issue.
Mathews therefore, prayed to annul the condition limiting the validity of Anticipatory Bail to a period of 60 days.
CBI lodged the case against Mathews and 17 others, including Intelligence Bureau Officials, for various offences like Criminal Conspiracy, Kidnapping and Fabrication of Evidence, under the Indian Penal Code in association with the Nambi Narayanan 1994 espionage case.
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