Case Title: High Court of Judicature for Rajasthan v. The State of Rajasthan and Another
The Supreme Court has rejected the blanket orders issued by a single judge of the Rajasthan High Court to not list applications for bail and suspension of sentence as urgent matters during the lockdown, stating that the right to apply for bail is an individual right enshrined in Articles 14, 19, and 21 of the Constitution.
The Court has highlighted that such blanket restrictions would suspend individuals' Fundamental Rights’ and prevent those seeking liberty from applying for bail.
The observations were made by a Bench comprised of Justices L Nageswara Rao and Aniruddha Bose while delivering the judgement in special leave petitions filed against orders of the Rajasthan High Court directing the Registry not to list bails, appeals, applications for suspension of sentence in appeals, and revisions as extreme urgent matters.
A solitary bench order issued this year instructing the Registry not to list petitions for anticipatory bail in offences with maximum sentences of up to three years during the Court's summer vacation was also challenged.
The Rajasthan High Court itself challenged these orders in the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court stated that "such an order also has the effect of temporarily overriding legislative restrictions."
While noting that the High Court issued the blanket order without following the established procedure, the Bench observed that the blanket order prohibiting the listing of bail applications or applications for suspension of sentence in appeals also violates incarcerated person's right to personal liberty.
"Such right has been taken away by judicial order, without complying with the procedure established by law," the Bench said.
"Right to apply for bail is an individual right implied in Articles 14, 19, and 21 of the Constitution," Justice Bose wrote in his decision.
The Court further noted that Sections 439, 438, and 389 of the Criminal Procedure Code recognize the right of an accused, an undertrial prisoner, or a convicted person awaiting an appellate court's verdict to request bail on suspension of punishment.