SC sets two-month limit for HCs, local courts to decide bail pleas

The Supreme Court on Friday directed high courts and district courts across the country to ensure that bail and anticipatory bail applications are decided within two months of filing, emphasising that matters involving personal liberty cannot be left hanging indefinitely in the name of judicial workload.

- Utkarsh Anand

A bench of justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan made it clear that prolonged pendency of such cases not only undermines the object of the Code of Criminal Procedure but also violates the constitutional guarantees of equality and personal liberty under Articles 14 and 21.

"In matters concerning liberty, bail courts must be sensitive and ensure that constitutional ethos is upheld. While docket explosion remains a chronic challenge, cases involving personal liberty deserve precedence," the bench underscored.

The bench noted that courts must remain particularly sensitive when adjudicating matters concerning liberty, observing that bail decisions are ordinarily straightforward exercises based.

"The plight of tax-paying middle-class citizens paints a disheartening picture..Having invested their lifelong savings in pursuit of a home, many are compelled to shoulder a double burden, servicing EMIS on one hand, and paying rent on the other, only to find their 'dream home' reduced to an unfinished building. The anxiety of not having a home despite paying a fortune is bound to take a serious toll on health, productivity, and dignity," it rued.

Noting that "housing is neither a luxury nor a speculative instrument, but a fundamental human need," the bench issued a wideranging set of 12 binding directions, which included strengthening tribunals by filling up vacancies in NCLT and NCLAT "on a war footing," with additional benches constituted to deal with real estate insolvencies.