Partly allowed

Pankaj Kumar and Anr. v. State of U.P. and Anr.

Allahabad HC26 Mar 2019A482/4579/2019

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

The single judge dismissed the advance submission in the u/s 482 application, directing lower courts to decide pending bail applications within one week and ensuring speedy trial proceedings according to Supreme Court guidelines while imposing a thirty-day suspension on coercive action.

What did the court decide?

Direction to decide bail applications within one week; thirty-day suspension on coercive action; threat of adverse action for non-compliance.

Pankaj Kumar and Anr. Vs State of U.P. and Anr. — Bail and Remand | Allahabad HC (2019)

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Court No. - 67

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Case :- APPLICATION U/S 482 No. - 4579 of 2019

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Applicant :- Pankaj Kumar And Anr Opposite Party :- State Of U.P. And Anr Counsel for Applicant :- Dharmendra Singh Counsel for Opposite Party :- G.A.,Ramesh Kumar Oj

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Hon'ble Rahul Chaturvedi,J.

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Heard learned counsel for the applicants as well as learned A.G.A. and perused the record.

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By means of the present 482 Cr.P.C. application, the prayer sought by the applicants are setting aside the orders dated 22.10.2018, 03.11.2018, 20.11.2018 and 20.12.2018 whereby initially bailable warrants were issued thereafter vide orders dated 20.11.2018 and 20.12.2018 were issued by the VIII-Additional Session Judge/Special Judge (POCSO Act), Agra in Special Case No. 2994 of 2018 (State v. Ravi Kumar and others) arising out of Case Crime No. 354-C, 354-D, 504, 506 IPC and 7/8 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, P.S. Atmauddaula, District Agra along with the prayer of quashing the charge sheet dated 07.10.2017 and 16.06.2018 and the entire criminal proceedings going thereon.

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After arguing the case for quite some time at length and pitted against certain observations made by the Court, learned counsel for the applicants himself has given up to address the Court on merits of the case and prayed, that the purpose of his clients, would suffice, if a direction may be given to the courts below to decide their bail application within specific time frame as the NBW is under operation against the applicants pending since 20.11.2018.

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Considering the entire facts and circumstances of the case and the arguments advanced, this Court is of the opinion that since learned counsel for the applicants has already given up that he does not want to press the case on merit, in the fitness of circumstances, this 482 Cr.P.C. application stands disposed of with the direction that if the applicants surrender within 30 days from today and apply for bail, their bail application shall be adjudicated and decided by the courts below with speaking and reasoned order, strictly in accordance with law, in the light of the judgment given by Hon'ble Apex Court in the case of Hussain and another Vs. Union of India reported in (2017) 5 SCC Page-702 , relevant extract of which reads as under :-

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"….......Judicial service as well as legal service are not like any other services. They are missions for serving the society. The mission is not achieved if the litigant who is waiting in the queue does not get his turn for a long time”....... “Decision of cases of under-trials in custody is one of the priority areas. There are obstructions at every level in enforcement of right of speedy trial; vested interests or unscrupulous elements try to delay the proceedings”....... “In spite of all odds, determined efforts are required at every level for success of the mission”..... “The Presiding Officer of a court cannot rest in a state of helplessness. This is the constitutional responsibility of the State to provide necessary infrastructure and of the High Courts to

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monitor the functioning of subordinate courts to ensure timely disposal of cases.”

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To satiate speedy disposal of the cases, the courts below are issued following directions in accordance with the observations made in the case

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of Hussain and another (Supra):

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(i)Bail applications be disposed of normally within one week : (ii) Magisterial trials, where accused are in custody, be normally concluded within six months and sessions trials where accused are in custody be normally concluded within two years.

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(iii).......................................................................................................; (iv).......................................................................................................” The above timelines may be the touchstone for assessment of judicial performance in annual confidential reports.

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For the period of thirty days from today no coercive action shall be taken against the applicants in the above-mentioned case.

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It is made clear that no time extension application would be entertained for extending the period of thirty days.

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The ratio mentioned above is the last word for every judicial officers for abiding with the directions of the Hon'ble Apex Court. In the aforesaid scenario, it would be pertinent to refer the case of Brahm Singh and others Vs. State of U.P. and others decided on 08.07.2016 in Criminal Misc. Writ Petition No.15609 of 2016 whereby co-ordinate Bench of this Court, while taking into account the concerns of most of the counsels with regard to the long pending bail applications at lower courts' stage has expressed their anguish and concern.

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In the aforesaid backdrop, learned Sessions Judge/the concerned Trial Judge is directed to ensure that the guidelines given in the case of Hussain and another (supra) as well as in Brahm Singh and others(Supra) has to be carried out in its letter and spirit, failing which an adverse inference would be drawn against the erring officers and this Court would be compelled to take appropriate action against them, if found that there is laxity in adhering the above directions.

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In the event, the bail application is not decided within seven days as contemplated above, the learned Judge will have to spell out the justifiable reasons and record the same on the order sheet of such cases.

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Order Date :- 26.3.2019

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shailesh

Pankaj Kumar and Anr. v. State of U.P. and Anr.

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Pankaj Kumar and Anr. v. State of U.P. and Anr.

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