‘Strongly disapprove’: SC seeks reports on bail plea delays from all high courts

EXpressing “ uttermost(a) letdown” o'er delays in deciding bond pleas that flat affect personal liberty, the Supreme Court on Wednesday sought detailed reports from all high courts on the pendency of bail and sentence suspension applications across the country, urging judges to expedite the disposal of such matters.“We strongly disapprove of not passing orders in the matters of bail. What is bothering is that such matters are kept pending. You dismiss the application if you do not want to give bail. Let them come in appeal. But how can you keep such matters pending?...Nothing can be more important than deciding the fate of a prayer to grant or refuse bail,” said a bench, led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant.The bench, also comprising justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi, underlined that prolonged pendency of such applications undermines the fundamental right to personal liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution, as it came across a case from Haryana where a bail application had remained pending for months before the Punjab and Haryana High Court.During the hearing, the bench expressed its disapproval of the practice of keeping bail matters pending without orders. In a detailed order, the top court said it was “extremely disappointed with the state of affairs where matters relating to rights of liberty are kept pending for long”, noting that among miscellaneous matters, bail applications deserved the highest priority.The bench also flagged the situation in the Patna High Court, observing that bail applications there were “not even listed for months”. The judges on the bench recalled that litigants were often forced to approach the Supreme Court merely to seek directions for listing of bail pleas in high courts.While the court said it had no reason to doubt that chief justices of high courts were aware of the issue, it noted that despite repeated reminders and timelines laid down earlier by the apex court, high courts seemed to be lacking a “robust mechanism” to ensure time-bound adjudication of bail matters.“This is happening despite the fact that on various occasions, this court has indicated timelines for adjudication of matters keeping in view the very nature of reliefs,” noted the bench, adding that such orders had not brought the desired sensitivity among high courts.Acknowledging that listing and prioritisation of cases fall within the exclusive prerogative of chief justices of high courts, the court said the situation nonetheless compelled its intervention. “If people are languishing in jail and their bail applications are not even heard, and there is complete uncertainty about when they would know the fate of their applications, this court is under a bounden duty to lay down certain mandatory guidelines,” it said.However, before framing binding directions, the court decided to first seek comprehensive data. It directed the registrars general of all high courts to submit complete details of anticipatory and regular bail applications, as well as applications for suspension of sentence, pending before them.The details sought include the date of filing, date of decision, and the next date of hearing. For now, the court has asked for information relating to applications filed on or after January 1, 2025, but also clarified that details of older pending matters should be furnished as well. The reports are to be submitted within four weeks.The bench also directed state governments to fully cooperate with HCs to ensure early and time-bound disposal of bail matters. HCs were told to be prepared with relevant case details, provided copies were shared with advocates general or public prosecutors at least three days in advance.