On Monday, the Supreme Court ruled that anticipatory bail can be granted to an individual in a case, even if they are currently in custody for another case. This decision was made in the case of Dhanraj Aswani v. Amar S Mulchandani and anr, with the judgment delivered by a Bench consisting of Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala, and Justice Manoj Misra.
The Court emphasized that there are no explicit or implicit restrictions preventing a sessions or High Court from granting anticipatory bail to an accused who is already in custody for a different offense. The ruling clarified that the right to anticipatory bail is independent of any prior custody and is intended to safeguard the rights of the accused under the law. If anticipatory bail is granted for a subsequent offense while the accused is already in custody, they cannot be arrested for that subsequent offense.
The legal question arose when a criminal complaint against the accused was initially quashed but revived following their arrest in a separate case. The accused subsequently sought anticipatory bail from the Bombay High Court, which ruled that the petition was valid.
In the appeal, the appellant’s counsel argued that anticipatory bail is applicable only when there is a genuine fear of arrest and not as an automatic right. Conversely, the accused’s counsel contended that such apprehension should not be dismissed merely based on the discretion of the investigating officer.
The Supreme Court agreed with the stance of the accused, noting that the procedures in these cases must uphold the rights to life, liberty, and a fair trial. Consequently, the Court rejected the appellant’s arguments and dismissed the appeal.
Senior Advocates Sidharth Luthra and Gopal Sankaranarayanan, along with Advocates Prashant S Kenjale, Amol Nirmalkumar Suryawanshi, Srishty Pandey, Ashutosh Chaturvedi, Gayatri Virmani, and Shubham Gavande from Juristrust Law Offices, represented the informant-appellant. Senior Advocate Siddhartha Dave, with Advocates Vidhi Thaker, Shantanu Phanse, Sudhanva Bedekar, Prastut Dalvi, and Siddhant Sharma, appeared for the accused.
