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Synopsis

The Supreme Court has said the process of trial itself cannot be made a punishment. Court has accordingly granted bail to a man arrested in a 2020 murder case as there was inordinate delay and six co accused got bail.

"An accused has a right to a fair trial and while a hurried trial is frowned upon as it may not give sufficient time to prepare for the defence, an inordinate delay in conclusion of the trial would infringe the right of an accused guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution," a bench of Justices Hrishikesh Roy and R Mahadevan said.

The court was hearing a bail plea made by Balwinder Singh who challenged the Punjab and Haryana High Court's order of April 30, 2024.

His counsel submitted Singh had been in custody for nearly 4 years since he was arrested on June 26, 2020. Also, the bench was told, although the direction to conclude the trial in five months was given by the High Court on April 30, 2024, it was unlikely, looking at the pace of the trial. 

The State counsel submitted that there was no material change of circumstances from when bail was refused to the petitioner in 2023.

Court noted 21 prosecution witnesses had already testified and 17 more witnesses are proposed to be examined after dropping 9 of the earlier cited witnesses.

"The High Court while rejecting bail had asked for conclusion of trial within five months. The five months period stipulated by the High Court will expire at the end of this month but as noticed earlier, the prosecution proposes to examine 17 more witnesses," the bench said.

Emphasising the right to fair trial, the bench said, it is not for nothing the Author Oscar Wilde in “The Ballad of Reading Gaol”, wrote the following poignant lines while being incarcerated:

“I know not whether Laws be right,

 Or whether Laws be wrong; 

All that we know who be in jail 

Is that the wall is strong;

And that each day is like a year,

A year whose days are long.”

The court noted the incident in the present case occurred on June 25, 2020 and the petitioner was arrested soon thereafter.

"By now, six co-accused have been granted bail. As the prosecution wishes to examine 17 more witnesses, the trial is unlikely to conclude on a near date," the bench said.

"To avoid the situation of the trial process itself being the punishment particularly when there is presumption of innocence under the Indian jurisprudence, we deem it appropriate to grant bail to the petitioner – Balwinder Singh," the court ordered.

An FIR in the case was lodged on June 25, 2020 under Sections 302, 307, 325, 506, 323, 148, 149, 120-B of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 and Section 25, 27 and 29 of the Arms Act, 1959, at Police Station Mulepur, District Fatehgarh Sahib.

It was alleged that the petitioner, along with the co-accused, all armed with deadly weapons came to the spot and indulged in indiscriminate firing, resulting in one fatality and serious injuries to two other injured witnesses.

The High Court, by its impunged order, dismissed his fourth bail application, finding no material change in circumstances and also noticing that a previous plea was rejected by a detailed order on merits on April 27, 2023. The High Court, however, had directed the trial court to conclude the proceedings expeditiously and positively within the next five months.