Supreme Court upset due to non-implementation of decision given ten months ago, warns magistrates to send them on training
The mood of the bench turned sharp when amicus curiae Siddharth Luthra presented some instances in which the accused were not granted bail.
The anger of the Supreme Court reached the seventh sky due to non-implementation of its own decision to release the accused on bail. The double bench said in a very strong tone that the magistrates who are taking the Supreme Court lightly will be removed from the court and sent to training. The Supreme Court also issued strict instructions to the High Courts. The bench said that the work of monitoring the district courts is the responsibility of the High Courts. They should see that the lower courts follow our order completely. Once we have given a decision, it must be implemented.
The mood of the bench of Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Justice Ahsanuddin and Justice Arvind Kumar turned sharp when amicus curiae Siddharth Luthra presented some examples in which the accused were not granted bail. The bench was also informed that in some cases the public prosecutor also argued contrary to the Supreme Court order. The bench said that the public prosecutor should also present the cases before the courts in a proper manner.
The Supreme Court also raged on the investigating agencies
Justice Ahsanuddin also lashed out at the investigating agencies. He said that why should we only talk about the courts. The agency is also filing its reply against our order. He said that the investigating agencies should not provoke us, otherwise strict action will have to be taken against them too.
The Supreme Court had laid down guidelines for bail in the case of Satinder Kumar Antil vs. CBI. A bench of Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice MM Sandresh had said that the accused should not be sent to jail unless it is necessary to do so. He believed that if the courts sent someone to jail, then he would file an application for bail. That means there will be an increase in unnecessary work.
Justice Kaul’s court had given the order in 2022
The court was also concerned about the fact that all the jails were full of undertrials. Lower courts send the accused to jail without thinking. The double bench had fixed certain criteria for bail. Then it was ordered that the lower court should not mechanically order the accused to be sent on remand. The Supreme Court had also said in the 2022 decision that there should be no problem in releasing the prisoners on bail who are serving a sentence of more than ten years.
