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Allahabad HC Allows Bail Petition Directly Without Requiring To Approach Trial Court
On Monday, the Allahabad High Court allowed a petitioner to plea directly in front of the HC under Section 439 of CrPC without asking him to follow the usual procedure and first apply in the trial Court. The observation was made by Justice Siddharth due to an ongoing lockdown situation. The case originated in the Mathura district which was categorized as Red Zone by the state government. All the local courts were also directed to stay close therefore the petitioner failed to approach the trial court.
Due to the rise of such an extraordinary situation, HC decided to hear the plea without asking the petitioner to follow the standard of procedure. The bench said that “Extraordinary circumstances require extraordinary remedies and therefore this court is inclined to consider the present bail application in exercise of its power under Section 439 Cr.P.C., but without making it a precedent for normal times,"
The bench relied its observation on Sandeep Kumar Bafna v. State of Maharashtra & Anr., 2014(16) SCC 623, where the Supreme Court held that High Courts possess power and jurisdiction to hear the plea of surrender and bail without asking the petitioner to approach Trial Court first.
In this case, the petitioner was booked on April 19, 2020, for transporting syrup that contained some banned drugs. He was charged with Sections 420, 467, 468, 471 of IPC r/w Section 8/21 the NDPS Act.
Senior Advocate Anoop Trivedi, appearing for the petitioner, argued that the petitioner acted only as a manager of the company transporting goods and had no connection with the syrup transportation whatsoever. The banned substance was only related to the manufacturer and purchaser.
While keeping in mind the nature of the offense, the evidence available against the petitioner, the mandate of Article 21 and the precedents Dataram Singh v. State of UP & Anr., (2018) 3 SCC 22 and Sandeep Kumar Bafna v. State of Maharashtra & Anr., 2014(16) SCC 623, the court allowed the bail petition after the deposit of a personal bond and two sureties.
