The Supreme Court granted bail to a murder convict after calling the Orissa High Court’s refusal to hear his delayed appeal a “disturbing order.” The bench stressed that the High Court should have taken a practical approach there.
Taking note of a “disturbing order” by the Orissa High Court, the Supreme Court granted bail to a murder convict, while expressing serious concern that the High Court had dismissed his appeal for being delayed.
A bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and Ujjal Bhuyan said the High Court should have adopted a practical and sympathetic approach and condoned the delay, so the convict could be heard on the appeal’s merits.
The Supreme Court observed that the convict had not been released even once on parole or furlough.
It further noted that remanding the matter to the High Court to hear the criminal appeal on merits would be a futile exercise.
The bench said,
“We are convinced that we should release the petitioner on bail in the peculiar facts and circumstances of this case. Thus, in exercise of our jurisdiction under Article 142 of the Constitution as an exceptional case, we order that the petitioner be released on bail on his executing a personal bond of Rs 10,000 to the satisfaction of the Jail Superintendent,”
The apex court directed the District Legal Services Authority, Koraput, in Odisha to assist the petitioner in preparing an appropriate representation, seeking remission of sentence in line with the remission policy that was in place at the time the offence was committed.
The Supreme Court clarified that it passed the order after considering that the petitioner has been serving his sentence for the past 22 years, has never been released during that period, and his conduct in jail has also been found satisfactory.
It added,
“Registry shall inform about this Order to the Senior Superintendent, Circle Jail, Koraput at the earliest as well as the District Legal Services Authority, Koraput,”
The case was heard on a plea filed by the petitioner challenging an Orissa High Court order that refused to condone a delay of 3,157 days in filing a criminal appeal against the trial court’s judgment and conviction order, which had dismissed the appeal as time-barred.
The petitioner was tried before the Additional Sessions Judge, Nabarangpur, for offences punishable under Sections 302 and 201 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), 1860.
After the trial, he was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment.