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Synopsis

The Allahabad High Court recently granted bail to a man accused in a murder case stating that in the appeal against the accused's acquittal, when he had been arrested on a non-bailable warrant, the state had failed to produce him before the high court even after 11 months of custody. 

The bench of Justice Arvind Singh Sangwan and Justice Ram Manohar Narayan Mishra said that normally in an appeal against acquittal filed by the State, if Non Bailable Warrants are issued against the person who had already acquired an order of acquittal, in pursuance to the said warrants, the accused who stands acquitted is produced before the High Court itself, so as to enable him to engage a lawyer or provide a free legal aid counsel, as the case may be.

"However, in the instant case in pursuance to the Non Bailable Warrants, the applicant was arrested and was put in jail without being any information to the Bench about the fate of the applicant-respondents," the division bench noted. 

Because of the same, court held the accused's custody not only illegal but also groundless arrest.

Before the high court, the counsel for the accused submitted that after his arrest, the accused was put in District Jail and since he had no source of income, he could not engage a counsel in time. As custody till date was more than 11 months and only for that reason he could not appear before the high court in pursuance of the notice/warrants issued by the high court, the counsel told. 

While noting that the co-accused in the case had already been granted bail by the high court, court allowed the bail application Zameel Alias Jaleel @ Fauda convicted and sentenced in a 2011 case under Section 302 read with Section 34, 120B IPC.

Further, court ordered the government appeal against the acquittal of the accused persons to be listed for final hearing in its due course.

Case Title: State of U.P. v. Zameel Alias Fauda And 5 Ors.