Synopsis: The Court is of the view that the learned courts below in the hierarchy are not specific in relation to the accused persons’ background, which causes delays in the disposal of the applications for bail.
The High Court of Rajasthan ordered the State courts to determine whether a bail applicant has a previous record of the crime and specifics of the same in bail orders.
The Court frequently considers that the learned courts below in the hierarchy are not specific in relation to the accused persons’ background, which causes delays in the disposal of bail applications.
The Single Judge Bench of Justice Dr. Pushpendra Singh Bhati, gave this direction while disposing off a bail application moved by a person who had no criminal records.
In cases where arrests are made on a charge of a non-bailable offence, the Bench found out that background records were critical to deciding on a bail application.
Although these findings were not meant to form the basis for approving or refusing the application for bail, they were sufficient to draw a conclusion on the basis of Section 437 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (granting bail for non-bailable offences) and to obtain a perspective on the accused in relation to the allegations raised.
The Court has now ordered all Rajasthan trial courts to provide complete background details and record a finding as to whether the person had a criminal record or not.
The trial courts were to determine the following in a chart and apply it to the order allowing/rejecting bail if the person had a criminal record:
- Number for FIR (s),
- Number of a case (s),
- Section (s),
- Date (s),
- Status and
- Date of Arrest and release.
The Court ordered the Registry to inform the district and session judges of the order for immediate compliance in their jurisdictions. Prosecutors were also ordered to ask for ‘well in advance’ criminal background reports so that judges could provide specific facts about a given accused.
With this, the Court ordered the Registry to provide a compliance report by 5 January 2021. The matter will be taken up next on that date.