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The High Court of Chhattisgarh upheld that when court cannot find any undue delay caused by the trial Court in case of bail rejection, court is  not inclined to release the applicant on bail through the learned bench led by Hon’ble Shri Justice Goutam Bhaduri in the case of Shreyansh Jhabak Vs. The State Of Chhattisgarh (MCRC 8337 of 2021)

Brief facts of the case are that the petitioner filed a Third Bail Application under Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, seeking regular bail for the applicant, who was arrested on September 30, 2020 in connection with Crime which was registered at Police Station City Kotwali, Raipur, Chhattisgarh (CG) for an offence punishable under Sections 22 (c), 29, 25, and 27 of the NDPS Act.

On 29.01.2021, the first bail application with MCRC No.8604 of 2020 was dismissed on the merits, and on 25.06.2021, the second bail application with MCRC No.3073 of 2021 was dismissed. In light of the recovery attributable to the petitioner, the Hon’ble Supreme Court dismissed criminal Special Leave Petition  on the merits on 06.08.2021 and declined to interfere with the order of this Court. Following that, the applicant filed R.P. (Crl.) in SLP (Crl.), which was likewise dismissed by the Hon’ble Supreme Court on September 28, 2021.

Since the trial Court has caused undue delay and the co-ordinate Bench of this Court has given bail to the other co-accused persons from whom considerably more contraband was found, learned counsel for the applicant argues that the applicant should be released on bail and on the other hand, learned State counsel opposes the request for bail.

The applicant’s bail applications were denied on the merits by the Court, which was affirmed by the Hon’ble Supreme Court, given the nature of the recovery. The trial is at an advanced stage, according to the order sheets of the trial Court, and only official witnesses for whom summonses have already been issued are necessary to be examined. The order of the Hon’ble Supreme Court was presented to the trial court on September 28, 2021, and when the case was taken up on October 8, 2021, a bailable warrant was issued, and the case was set for hearing on October 25, 2021, and then on December 6, 2021, and December 8, 2021, respectively. As a result, the court did not find that the trial court had caused any undue delay. Thus, the court is not inclined to release the applicant on bai and the bail application is dismissed.

Click here to read the Judgment

Judgement reviewed by – Pooja Lakshmi