NEW DELHI: Taking into consideration the ‘disturbing order’ passed by the Orissa High Court, the Supreme Court granted bail to a murder convict while expressing grave concern over its approach which led to his appeal being quashed on the grounds of delay.
A bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and Ujjal Bhuiyan said the apex court should have taken a “pragmatic and sympathetic” view on the issue and condoned the delay to give an opportunity to the convict to defend his appeal on merits.
Noting that not once had the convict been released on parole or leave, the Supreme Court said that remanding the matter to the Supreme Court to hear the criminal appeal on merits would be a futile exercise.
“We are convinced that we should release the petitioner on bail in view of the particular facts and circumstances of this case. Therefore, in exercise of our jurisdiction under Article 142 of the Constitution as an exceptional case, we order the release of the petitioner on bail after his execution of personal bond $“10,000 to the satisfaction of the prison superintendent,” the bench said.
The High Court directed the District Legal Services Authority, Koraput in Odisha, to assist the petitioner in preparing suitable representation and seeking pardon in accordance with the pardon policy prevailing at the time of commission of the crime.
The Supreme Court explained that it issued this order keeping in mind that the petitioner had been under sentence for 22 years, had not been released even once during this period, and his behavior in prison was found to be satisfactory.
“The registry shall inform the Chief Superintendent of Circle Jail, Koraput about this matter as soon as possible, as well as the District Legal Services Authority, Koraput,” the statement read.
The Supreme Court was hearing a petition filed by a man challenging the order of the Orissa High Court which had refused to condone the delay of 3,157 days in preferring a criminal appeal against the judgment and conviction order passed by the trial court, and dismissed the criminal appeal on the ground of limitation.
The petitioner was tried before the Court of Additional Sessions Judge at Nabarangpur for the offense punishable under Sections 302 and 201 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 respectively.
At the end of the trial, the petitioner was convicted of the alleged crime and sentenced to life imprisonment.
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