An accused is arrested for a bailable offence, and he is released on bail. During the trial, he absconds and non-bailable warrants are issued against him… Can the court, in such circumstances, refuse to release him on bail? Give reasons briefly.

Question: An accused is arrested for a bailable offence, and he is released on bail. During the trial, he absconds and non-bailable warrants are issued against him. The police arrest him and produce him before court. The defence counsel pleads for his release on bail under section 436(1) of CrPC which provides that a person accused of a bailable offence shall be released on bail. Can the court, in such circumstances, refuse to release him on bail? Give reasons briefly.

Find the answer only on Legal Bites. [An accused is arrested for a bailable offence, and he is released on bail. During the trial, he absconds and non-bailable warrants are issued against him… Can the court, in such circumstances, refuse to release him on bail? Give reasons briefly.]

Answer

Section 436 of CrPC deals with provisions for bail in bailable offences. In this provision, bail may be claimed as a matter of right, and no discretion is left to the court to deny granting the same.

The Hon’ble Supreme Court, in the case of State of Maharashtra v. Sitaram Popat Vital, AIR 2004 SC 4258, observed certain factors that the courts should consider while deciding whether bail should be granted or not.

“Firstly, the nature of accusation and the severity of punishment in case of conviction and the nature of supporting evidence, secondly, reasonable apprehension of tampering of the witness or apprehension of threat to the complainant, thirdly, prima facie satisfaction of the Court in support of the charge.”

The Supreme Court has held in Talab Haji Hussain v. Madhukar Purshottam Mondkar (1958) SCR 1226 that a person accused of a bailable offence is entitled to be released on bail pending his trial if his conduct subsequent to his release is found to be prejudicial to a fair trial, he forfeits his right to be released on bail, and such forfeiture can be made effective by invoking the inherent power of the High Court under section 482 of the Code.

Therefore, if, at any subsequent stage of proceedings, it is found that any person accused of a bailable offence is intimidating, bribing or tampering with the prosecution witnesses or is attempting to abscond, the High Court has inherent power to cause him to be arrested and to commit him to custody for such period as it thinks fit. This power can be invoked in exceptional cases only when the High Court is satisfied that the ends of justice will be defeated unless the accused is committed to custody as held by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Ratilal v. Asst Collector of Customs, AIR 1967 SC 1639.

Now applying the decisions of the court in aforesaid judgments to the present case at hand, it is clear that the court is well within its power to refuse to grant bail to the accused because of his conduct during the proceedings. As per the facts during the trial, the accused absconds, and non-bailable warrants are issued against him. Now, the defence counsel cannot claim bail as a matter of right under section 436(1) of CrPC, which provides that a person accused of a bailable offence shall be released on bail. So, the bail application of the accused should be rejected.

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