Aishwarya Rathore –
Published On: October 2, 2021 at 12:20 IST
The Supreme Court has rejected the blanket Orders passed by the Rajasthan High Court to not list applications for Bail and suspension of sentence as urgent issues during the lockdown.
The Court remarked that such blanket bans would suspend the Fundamental Rights of individuals and block access for seekers of liberty to apply for Bail.
A Bench of Justices Nageswara Rao and Aniruddha Bose stated “Such right has been taken away by Judicial Order, without compliance of procedure established by law, which in our constitutional jurisprudence, is akin to “the due process” dictum.”
The Court further stated, “The right to apply for bail is an individual right implicit in Articles 14, 19 and 21 of the Constitution.”
The Bench was hearing a petition from the Rajasthan High Court registry challenging a Rajasthan High Court Order instructing Police authorities not to make arrests in cases involving offences punishable by up to three years in prison and the registry not to list bail matters citing the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Court further stated, “Such sweeping orders in our adversarial adjudicatory system would be contrary to law as many persons would be impacted by such orders without having any knowledge of the proceeding.”
Accordingly, the Court cited Arnesh Kumar v. the State of Bihar holding that such sweeping orders from the Court were superfluous.
Click here to read/download the Order
Also Read: Understanding the Concept of Bailment