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HC Can't Grant Interim Relief as Final Relief in Anticipatory Bail Plea: SC

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Synopsis

Court said what weighed in issuing notice and staying the operation of the impugned order was the nature of the ad interim relief deemed appropriate by the high court

The Supreme Court has expressed disapproval over the high court granting interim relief that effectively mirrored final relief in a plea seeking anticipatory bail.

A bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and R Mahadevan observed that it was unnecessary to require the accused to approach the investigating officer while the anticipatory bail application was still pending before the high court, especially when the high court had also ordered that the accused be granted ad-interim bail in the event of arrest.

The bench noted that such ad-interim reliefs carry their own legal implications while hearing a batch of appeals challenging the Punjab and Haryana High Court's orders from November 8, 2024. The appeals concerned petitions for anticipatory bail in an FIR related to charges of cheating, forgery, and other offences under the IPC, as well as offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
 
The high court had issued notice to the State and in the meantime granted ad interim relief saying that the accused shall join the investigation and in the event of his arrest, the accused should be released on interim bail to the satisfaction of the investigation officer subject to the conditions as provided under Section 482(2) of the Bhartiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023.
 
Taking up a petition filed by the first informant, the bench said, "We do not propose to look into the nature of the allegations levelled in the FIR or to put in other words even the exact case of the prosecution as the matter is at large before the high court. At the same time, we should also not overlook the fact that there are allegations of criminal misappropriation, cheating and forgery."
 
In all other connected matters, the court noted the high court had said that till the anticipatory bail applications are decided the accused persons should not be arrested. However, the bench said, what weighed in issuing notice and staying the operation of the impugned order was the nature of the ad interim relief the high court thought fit to grant.
 
The bench said, ordinarily, when the high court takes up anticipatory bail application for hearing it has three options. Either it may reject it on the very first day or it may issue notice to the State but would not grant any ad-interim protection or in a given case may issue notice and may even deem fit to grant appropriate protection.
 
"This was of course the discretion of the court concerned having regard to the merits of the matter. However, what we disapprove in the present case is the nature of the ad-interim relief granted. The same is practically in the nature of granting the final relief," the bench noted.
 
Citing Srikant Upadhyay & Ors Vs State of Bihar & Anr (2024), the court pointed out there is no point in asking the accused to go before the investigating officer pending the final disposal of the anticipatory bail application before the high court and further saying that in the event of arrest he shall be released on ad-interim bail.
 
The court directed all the accused to appear before the high court, which upon conclusion of the hearing of all the anticipatory bail applications, if it deems fit to reserve the order then till the pronouncement of the order, it may pass the accused persons should not be arrested.
 
"We had to intervene only because of the peculiar nature of the ad-interim protection which the high court thought fit to grant. All the anticipatory bail applications shall be decided by the court on their own merits without being influenced by any of the developments that have taken place between the date of grant of the ad-interim relief and the date of passing of this order by this court," the bench ordered.
 
Case Title: Deepak Aggarwal Vs Balwan Singh & Anr
Download and read judgement here

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