Supreme Court stays COVID-19 induced bail order of Allahabad HC; adjourns case to July

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court stayed the Allahabad HC's order granting anticipatory bail to an accused on account of apprehension of death owing to COVID-19. In this case, accused Prateek Jain claimed that he has been falsely implicated in the FIR registered under Sections 406, 420, 467, 468, 471 and 506 of the Indian Penal Code. Moreover, he alleged that the dispute arose because of demonetization and the slump caused in the real estate business. In an order dated May 10, the single-judge bench of Justice Siddharth ruled that apprehension of death in the current COVID-19 situation is a ground for anticipatory bail. 

At the outset, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the SC bench comprising Justices Vineet Saran and BR Gavai that the aforesaid accused is a conman. The SC ruled, "Keeping in view the totality of facts and circumstances of the present case, we direct that as far as the general observations and directions in the impugned order are concerned, the same shall remain stayed and the Courts shall not consider the said directions while considering other application for anticipatory bail, which shall be decided on the merit of each case, and not on the basis of observations made in the impugned order". Issuing notice returnable in the first week of July 2019, it also appointed senior advocate VV Giri as the Amicus Curiae. 

The contentious HC order

Maintaining that the right to life is paramount, the HC observed that the common accused cannot be left unprotected in the wake of inadequate medical facilities for treating COVID-19 patients in jails. Justice Siddhartha noted, "The established parameters for grant of anticipatory bail like the nature and gravity of accusation, the criminal antecedent of the applicant, the possibility of fleeing from justice and whether the accusation has been made for injuring and humiliating the applicant by getting him arrested have now lost significance on account of the present situation of the country and the State on account of the spread of the second wave of novel coronavirus". The purported inability of the UP government in controlling the COVID-19 spread also found resonance in the order. 

Here are some of the bail conditions imposed:

• The applicant shall, at the time of execution of the bond, furnish his address and mobile number and shall not change the residence till the conclusion of investigation/ trial without informing the Investigating Officer of the police/ the Court concerned of change of address and the reasons for the same before changing the same
• The applicant shall not obstruct or hamper the police investigation
• The applicant shall not leave the country during the currency of trial/investigation by police without prior permission from the concerned trial Court
• The applicant shall file an undertaking to the effect that he shall not seek any adjournment before the trial court on the dates fixed for evidence and when the witnesses are present in court