The Supreme Court on Monday voiced concern over what it described as a “regular practice” at the Kerala high court of entertaining anticipatory bail pleas directly, without requiring litigants to first approach the sessions court.
A bench of justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta remarked that such a departure from the hierarchy laid down in the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and its successor, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), was unusual and not seen in any other high court.
“One issue which is bothering us is that in the Kerala high court there seems to be a regular practice that it accepts anticipatory bail directly without the litigator approaching the sessions court first. Why is that so? There is a hierarchy provided by CrPC or BNSS. I am not commenting on the present case, but as a matter of principle…it doesn’t happen in any High Court,” the bench observed.
To assist the court in examining this systemic issue, the bench appointed senior advocate Sidharth Luthra as amicus curiae and sought a response from the registrar general of the Kerala High Court.
The bench further noted that if the high court entertains such pleas without trial courts weighing in first, crucial factual aspects may never be brought on record. “We are inclined to consider this aspect and decide the issue whether the High Court would be at the choice of the party or it should be mandatory that the accused should first approach the sessions court,” it added.
The petition filed by the man, accused of a minor’s rape, will be taken up again on October 14. Earlier, the Kerala high court had rejected the bail plea of the petitioner, Mohammed Rasal C, by an order in March this year.