Supreme Court tightens rules for regular bail

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has warned judicial officers across the country not to entertain any application for regular bail from the accused, after they obtain anticipatory bail from the apex court or the high court. 

Giving this warning, a bench said “Once a regular bail is granted by a subordinate court on the strength of the interim/pre-arrest bail granted by the superior court, even if the superior court is to dismiss the plea of anticipatory bail upon fuller consideration of the matter, the regular bail granted by the subordinate Court would continue to hold the field, rendering the ultimate rejection of the pre-arrest bail by the superior court meaningless.”

The bench said if this is a practice that is prevailing in some of the subordinate courts, time has come to put the subordinate courts to notice that such a practice must be discontinued and consideration of regular bail applications during the pendency of the application for pre-arrest bail must be discouraged. The bench said when this court or a high court or even a sessions judge grants interim anticipatory bail and the matter is pending before that court, there can be no occasion for the accused to appear and surrender before the learned trial court and seek regular bail.