Bombay High Court: In the instant bail application, where the accused sought bail on the ground of the respondent’s failure to produce him before the Trial Court on 70 assigned court dates, the Bench of SG Mehare, J.* granted bail to the accused, flagging failure of the prosecution to produce the accused before the Court for framing of charges and progression of trial.
In this peculiar case, the applicant-accused was languishing in Jalgaon prison for multiple offences under the Penal Code, 1860 (“IPC”), including Sections 302, 307, 323, 324, 352, 427, 452, 504, 506, read with Section 34 of the IPC, and Section 4 read with Section 25 of the Arms Act, 1959. He was however not produced before the Trial Court on 70 occasions, despite the issuance of show notice by the Trial Court
The accused contended that he deserved bail due to the failure of respondents to produce him before the Court on his assigned dates for 70 instances. The respondents opposed the application contending that bail should not be granted due to the gravity of the offences committed by the accused.
Perusing the matter, the Court pointed out that the burden of proof of the accused’s non-production before the Trial Court was upon the prosecution and berated the respondents for their laxity and procedural failure.
The Court cited the view adopted by the Supreme Court in multiple cases that an accused must be granted bail if their trial was not effectively progressing and protracted for no fault of theirs.
Therefore, after considering the facts and circumstances of the case, the Court was of view that the instant case was fit for granting conditional bail, despite the seriousness of the offences.
The accused was ordered to be released on bail by furnishing a personal bond and a surety bond of Rs. 50,000 along with one solvent surety of the same amount.
[Gaurav Bandu Patil v. State of Maharashtra, 2024 SCC OnLine Bom 1258, decided on 19-04-2024]
Advocates who appeared in this case :
Advocate for Applicant: Salunke Sudarshan J, Advocate
Advocate for Respondents: ML Sangit, Additional Public Prosecutor
Buy Penal Code, 1860 HERE
