Accused Should Furnish His Bail Bonds After Completion Of Six Months In Custody, Supreme Court Set Aside Patna HC’s Bail Condition

In a recent order, the Supreme Court (SC) of India set aside a bail condition of the Patna High Court (HC) that ‘the petitioner shall furnish his bail bonds after completion of six months in custody from today (September 11)’. It means that this condition put on hold the implementation of the bail order for 6 months. Justice Surya Kant, Justice Ujjal Bhuyan, and Justice Dipankar Datta were hearing the matter where the petitioner is one of the accused in the FIR lodged under Section 30(a) of the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Amendment Act. The allegations against him were that “...around 231.6 liters of country-made and foreign liquor was recovered from three motorcycles.” The petitioner was driving one of them and on June 14, 2024, he was arrested. He applied for bail which was declined by the Trial Court; therefore, he approached the High Court. The HC via its impugned order dated July 25, 2024, directed the petitioner to be released on bail subject to furnishing bail bonds etc., but a further condition has been imposed to the effect that ‘the petitioner shall furnish his bail bonds after completion of six months in custody from today’. 

After hearing the matter, the SC observed, “We see no valid reason for the High Court to impose the condition as contained in paragraph 7 of the impugned order whereby the bail bonds will have to be furnished by the petitioner after completion of six months in custody from the date of the High Court order.” Further, the bench allowed the instant petition and set aside paragraph 7 of the HC order. It also directed the Trial Court to release the petitioner on bail forthwith on furnishing bail bonds to its satisfaction. It added, “In addition to the conditions imposed by the Trial Court, it is directed that:

• The petitioner shall remain present in Court on each and every date of hearing.
• Since the petitioner has a track record of his involvement in cases under the Excise Act, it is directed that in case the petitioner is found involved in such like cases in future, it shall be taken as a misuse of the concession of bail.”