Supreme Court Overturns Gujarat HC Bail Order in Unusual Case

Supreme Court Overturns Gujarat HC Bail Order in Unusual Case

Supreme Court Overturns Gujarat HC Bail Order in Unusual Case

Recent events have resulted in the Supreme Court expressing its dissatisfaction of a decision made by the Gujarat High Court to grant bail to a murder suspect on the basis of a settlement with the complainant, who was the son of the slain victim. State of Gujarat and others v. Bharwad Santoshbhai Sondabhai and Others

The fact that the State government did not contest the order that was handed down in February of the previous year was deemed to be surprising by a bench consisting of Justices Hima Kohli and Rajesh Bindal. The court also took into consideration the fact that the defendant had only been detained for a period of six months and that he had a prior criminal record.

“Strangely enough, one of the circumstances that have weighed with the learned Single Judge involves the fact that the respondent No. 2 had submitted a settlement arrived at with the original complainant…that too in respect of an offence under Section 302 (murder) of the IPC… ” “…According to the ruling, “to our mind, this was a fit case where the respondent No.1 – State ought to have approached this Court against the order of bail granted by the High Court in favour of the respondent No.2, but surprisingly, no steps were taken,” the order added.

The court then proceeded to revoke the accused person’s bail and issued an order requiring their immediate surrender.

The incident in question occurred in 2021, and two individuals have been charged with murdering the victim during a physical altercation. The routine bail request of one of the defendants was twice turned down by the lower court, which prompted the defendant to appeal his case to the Gujarat High Court, which eventually granted him bail.

This bail order is being challenged in an appeal that was submitted to the Supreme Court by a person who was injured during the incident.

The Supreme Court was taken aback when it discovered that the High Court had granted the accused relief by relying on a settlement that had been reached between the accused and the son of the deceased victim.

It was also determined that the High Court had incorrectly declared that the accused did not have any previous criminal history.

After taking into consideration the fact that the accused had only been detained for a little over half a year, the court decided to dismiss the bail decision issued by the High Court in 2022 and grant the appeal.

It was additionally instructed that a copy of the order be delivered to the Home Secretary of Gujarat so that relevant action can be taken.

The appellant was represented by attorneys Somesh Chandra Jha, Kuldipsinh Jadeja, Pyoli, and Mayank Gautam during the hearing.

On behalf of the accused, attorneys Sunil Prakash Sharma, Kumar Deepraj, and Raju Sonkar made their appearances in court.

For the state of Gujarat, the government was represented by attorneys Ruchi Kohli, Swati Ghildiyal, Devyani Bhatt, and Srishti Mishra.