LI Network
Published on: 11 September 2023 at 19:10 IST
The SC recently emphasized that it is the responsibility of the police to ensure the presence of individuals accused in criminal cases who are incarcerated in custody before the trial court.
This ruling came during a case titled “Satendra Babu V. State of Uttar Pradesh,” where a bench comprising Justices BR Gavai and Prashant Kumar Mishra clarified that any lapses or negligence on the part of the police cannot be attributed to the detained accused.
In this particular case, the Uttar Pradesh police had opposed the grant of bail to an individual, citing his non-appearance before the trial court, which had led to the issuance of warrants for his attendance.
However, the judges pointed out that the imprisoned accused could not be held responsible for this failure, as he was in custody at the time.
The Court explicitly stated, “Since the petitioner is in prison, therefore, it was the duty of the police authorities to produce him before the Trial Court. The petitioner cannot be blamed for the negligence on behalf of the police authorities.”
The Supreme Court was addressing an appeal by the accused, challenging an order from the Allahabad High Court that had denied his bail request.
The appellant was a government employee entrusted with overseeing a Jan Sewa Kendra and was facing allegations of defrauding vulnerable investors.
The Supreme Court acknowledged that the accused had been in custody for over a year, and the chargesheet had already been filed in the case.
Taking these factors into account, the Court decided to grant bail to the accused.
