Supreme Court Sets Aside High Court Bail Order, Restores Sessions Court’s Refusal in Murder Case

A bench of Justices B.V. Nagarathna and Satish Chandra Sharma on Friday heard appeals by the complainant challenging an order of the High Court of Punjab & Haryana which had granted regular bail to two accused in an FIR registered for offences including Section 302 IPC. The appeals arose from the High Court’s order dated 14.11.2024 in CRM-M-35115/2024 and CRM-M-36312/2024 that set aside the Sessions Court’s refusals to enlarge the accused on bail.

The Court allowed the appeals, held that the High Court’s order called for interference and set it aside, and restored the Sessions Court orders declining bail. The Court noted that while the accused may have carried the injured person to hospital, the fact that he was "actually brought dead to the hospital" was a matter to be examined at trial and could not be disentangled from the question of who committed the offence. The Court, in its reasoning, observed: "In the circumstances, we find that the order of the High Court calls for interference and therefore, the same is set aside. Consequently, the order of the Sessions Court is restored." The bench directed the accused to surrender to the competent magistrate or the concerned police station on or before 16.06.2025 and ordered deposit of their passports at Police Station Nangal, Rupnagar on or before 19.05.2025, failing which the police would arrest them.

Background

The dispute arose from FIR No.30 dated 22.03.2023 at Police Station Nangal, Rupnagar, initially registered under Sections 302, 323, 148, 149 (later amended to add Sections 34, 427, 120B and delete 148 and 149) of the IPC. The complainant alleged that the accused, along with others, trespassed on his land, rammed his vehicle, and assaulted his driver Anil, who was later declared dead at hospital. The accused were arrested on 23.03.2023 and a charge sheet followed on 20.06.2023 with a supplementary charge sheet on 09.10.2023. The trial court declined regular bail on 21.05.2024 and 24.05.2024, noting antecedents and the gravity of the offence.

The accused sought quashing of the charge sheet under Section 482 CrPC; the High Court restrained the trial beyond 09.01.2024 and later, in bail petitions, allowed regular bail by the impugned order of 14.11.2024. The complainant approached this Court by SLPs. The Supreme Court recorded submissions that the High Court's order was "lacking in reasons" and was "cryptic" in paragraphs recording submissions and grant of bail. The State supported the complainant’s challenge. The accused contended the High Court had correctly applied the facts, pointing out that they had taken the injured to hospital and sought immediate treatment. The Supreme Court observed that "This fact will have to be considered de hors from the fact as to who actually had committed the offence in the first place in the instant case," and found that the High Court’s brief reasoning did not justify the grant of bail. The appeals were allowed, the Sessions Court’s orders were restored, and operative directions for surrender, passport deposit and arrest on non-compliance were issued. Pending applications stood disposed of.

Case No.: CRIMINAL APPEAL NO(S). /2025 (@SLP(Crl.) No.1427/2025 and @SLP(Crl.) No.1743/2025) (2025 INSC 796) Case Title: Baljinder Singh alias Aman v. State of Punjab & Anr. Appearances: For the Petitioner(s): Mr. Dev Datt Kamat, Senior Advocate; Mr. Revanta Solanki, Advocate; Mr. Hruday Bajentri, Advocate; Mr. Lalit Singla, Advocate; Mr. VPS Mithewal, Advocate; Mr. Shivam Garg, Advocate; Ms. Varsha Sharma, Advocate; Mr. Raj Kishor Choudhary, AOR; Mr. Shakeel Ahmed, Advocate; Ms. Lara Siddiqui, Advocate; Ms. Pratibha Singh, Advocate; Mr. Dhruv Kaushik, Advocate; Mr. Sarfaraj Ahmed Siddiqui, Advocate; Mr. Vikram Patralekh, Advocate. For the Respondent(s): Mr. Siddhant Sharma, AOR; Ms. Osheen Bhat, Advocate; Mr. Aman Dwivedi, Advocate; Mr. Karan Sharma, AOR; Mr. Pushpinder Singh, AOR; Ms. Anurag Rana, Advocate; Mr. Dharmendar Singh, Advocate; Mr. Harsh Wadhwani, Advocate; Mr. Randeep Singh Rai, Senior Advocate; Mr. D. Bharat Kumar, Advocate; Mr. Manoj Kumar, Advocate; Mr. Aman Shukla, Advocate; Mr. M. Chandrakanth Reddy, Advocate; Ms. Mehak Sharma, Advocate; Mr. Gopal Jha, AOR; Mr. Yash Gupta, Advocate.