Emphasizing that in matters of personal liberty, every single day of delay is significant, the Supreme Court expressed disappointment on Friday, May 17, over the Delhi High Court’s delay in deciding a bail application that has been pending for nearly 11 months.
A bench comprising Justices BR Gavai and Sandeep Mehta was hearing a petition filed by Amandeep Singh Dhall, an accused in the Delhi liquor policy case. Dhall was aggrieved by the High Court’s decision to adjourn his regular bail application to July 2024, after numerous postponements.
Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, representing the petitioner, pointed out that the matter had been adjourned 40 times. “I do not want anything… the Judge has adjourned this matter to July. Just have them decide the matter in May… it is unacceptable that after 40 hearings the regular bail is still not decided,” he argued.
The bench requested the High Court to resolve the bail application in May before its summer vacation.
“In matters concerning the liberty of citizens, every single day counts. Keeping a regular bail application pending for almost 11 months deprives the petitioner of his valuable right to liberty. We request the High Court to decide the bail application before the summer vacation,” the bench stated in its order.
