Bail dismissed — plea of unsoundness of mind at the time of the offence is a trial defence and cannot be adjudicated by the Bail Court (High Court of Judicature at Bombay, Criminal Appellate Jurisdiction; Criminal Bail Application No.910 of 2025 with Interim Application No.938 of 2025; R.M. Joshi, J.; decided 7th May, 2026). The Applicant, arraigned in Crime No.156 of 2023 of Kasarvadawali Police Station for offences punishable under Sections 302,307 of the Indian Penal Code and Sections 37(1) and 135 of the Maharashtra Police Act, is alleged to have assaulted his parents with a knife on 11th May, 2023, his mother dying and his father sustaining serious injuries; after completion of police custody he was admitted to the Mental Hospital at Thane. Seeking bail solely on the ground of unsoundness of mind at the time of the crime, and relying on medical papers and on Chunni Bai vs. State of Chhattisgarh, 2025 SCR (Cri.) 1956, he was opposed by the State, which urged that the trial before the Sessions Court was pending and that hospitalisation after police remand did not establish insanity at the time of the offence. Held: (i) the plea is undisputedly available as a defence during trial, but evidence must be led before the Trial Court; (ii) the Bail Court cannot record any finding in this regard, nor record findings possible only after evidence; (iii) admission to the Mental Hospital after police remand does not warrant an assumption of unsoundness at the time of the offence; consequently the Applicant is not entitled to bail on this ground and the Bail Application stands dismissed; (iv) it is clarified that such non-consideration will not preclude the Applicant from raising the defence before the Trial Court, which is expected to decide it in accordance with law.
