“Jailed Accused Can Seek Anticipatory Bail In Another Criminal Case”: SC

The Supreme Court ruled on Monday that an accused person already in custody for one case can still seek anticipatory bail for another case if they haven’t been arrested for the second matter.

A bench led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, along with Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, addressed the question of whether someone in jail can apply for pre-arrest bail in a different case.

“An accused is entitled to seek anticipatory bail so long as he is not arrested in relation to that offence, and if he is arrested in that case also, then the only remedy is to apply for regular bail,” Justice Pardiwala stated in the ruling.

This decision was made in response to a 2023 plea by Dhanraj Aswani, which raised this legal question. The court further clarified, “There is no explicit or implicit restriction which prohibits a sessions or the high court from granting anticipatory bail to an accused if he is in custody in relation to another offence. That will be against the intent of the legislature.”

The court also emphasized that being in custody for one case does not eliminate the fear of arrest in another.

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