Kerala High Court has ruled that accused persons cannot file bail applications in multiple courts at the same time. The Court also directed its registry to verify every bail plea to ensure no other bail application is pending elsewhere.
Kochi: The Kerala High Court on November 17 issued strong directions to stop the growing practice of accused persons filing bail applications in multiple courts at the same time.
The order came from Justice A Badharudeen in the case Lalachan VM v State of Kerala & another, while hearing a bail plea filed by a Kochi Corporation Superintendent accused of taking a bribe for processing a property ownership transfer.
Justice Badharudeen made it clear that every bail application filed before the High Court must include an undertaking from the accused saying that no other bail petition on the same matter is pending before any other court.
The Court also told its registry to properly verify this information before accepting bail petitions. The Court stated that,
“The Registry of this Court is directed to verify all bail applications filed before this Court to ensure that there will be an undertaking in all the bail applications filed, stating that “no other bail application/applications filed or pending in any other courts in the district judiciary as on the date of filing of the bail application before this Court”. That apart, in case of doubt, the registry shall contact the sessions court or special court concerned as to filing or pending of any such application by the petitioner/petitioners to ensure that while filing bail application before this Court, no other application to be pending before any other competent courts in the district judiciary. This direction shall be complied hereafter without fail.”
These directions were passed while considering the bail request of Lalachan VM, who has been booked under Section 7(a) of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018 for allegedly demanding a bribe, and Section 61(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 for criminal conspiracy.
According to the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau, Lalachan and a Revenue Inspector had demanded money from an applicant to process a property ownership transfer. Officials later trapped both accused while they were accepting the bribe and arrested them.
Lalachan later approached the High Court seeking bail. During the hearing, the Court discovered that he had already filed another bail application before a special court, but had not disclosed that information in his High Court petition.
The Court expressed shock at this trend of filing simultaneous bail applications, describing it as an unacceptable and unhealthy practice. The Court remarked that such conduct could even lead to denial of relief.
Referring to the petitioner’s behaviour, the Court said,
“The above facts would show that, simultaneously applications for bail being filed before the Special Court and this Court in an experimental manner. This attitude is not permissible and the same is to be deprecated.”
Even though the Court found the conduct objectionable, it still granted bail to the accused after reviewing the progress of the investigation and the amount of time he had already spent in custody.
The bail comes with strict conditions: Lalachan must appear before the investigating officer every Monday for three months, he cannot enter the Kochi Corporation area until the investigation is completed, and he must not influence witnesses in any manner.
The accused was represented by advocates Harish Gopinath and Surumi Nazar, while Senior Public Prosecutor Rekha S and Special Public Prosecutor Rajesh A appeared for the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau.
Case Title:
Lalachan VM v State of Kerala & another
