LI Network
Published on: February 7, 2024 at 13:00 IST
In a recent development, the Supreme Court emphasized the need to suspend sentences and grant bail in cases where an appeal challenging a conviction is unlikely to be heard before the completion of the entire sentence.
Justices Abhay S. Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan directed that, in cases of fixed-term sentences, particularly when the appeal process is prolonged, the norm should be to suspend the sentence and grant bail.
Expressing dissatisfaction with instances where bail is denied in deserving cases, the Division Bench remarked, “We find that in several deserving cases, bail is being denied. Such cases should never be required to be brought before this Court.”
The case in question involved an appellant convicted under Section 489(c) of the IPC for possessing counterfeit currency notes worth Rs. 44,000. Despite filing an appeal challenging the conviction and seeking bail and suspension of the sentence, the High Court refused to suspend the sentence, considering the gravity of the crime and the evidence.
Highlighting that the appellant had already served half of the five-year sentence, the Supreme Court acknowledged that the appeal was unlikely to be heard before the completion of the entire sentence.
Consequently, the Court deemed it necessary to grant suspension of sentence pending the appeal and bail, directing the Trial Court to release the appellant on bail until the final disposal of the appeal before the High Court.
CASE TITLE: ATUL @ ASHUTOSH vs. STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH,