NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court, in a recent ruling has said that a court can reject the anticipatory bail of an accused in its order but it has no jurisdiction to direct him to surrender before the trial court.
A two-judge bench of the apex court comprising Justices J B Pardiwala and Ujjal Bhuyan made the observation while hearing a plea filed by a man accused of cheating and forgery, against a Jharkhand High Court order which rejected his anticipatory bail plea and asked him to surrender and seek regular bail.
“If the court wants to reject the anticipatory bail, it may do so, but the court has no jurisdiction to say that the petitioner should now surrender,” the bench said.
The top court further highlited that once a magistrate takes cognizance and issues process, the usual course is issuance of summons, and the accused is required only to appear before the court and participate in the proceedings.
The Court said police have no power to arrest an accused in a complaint case unless a non-bailable warrant is issued by the court. It also clarified that even during an inquiry under Section 202 CrPC, where a magistrate may seek a police report before issuing process, the police cannot arrest the accused.
It noted that despite this legal position, anticipatory bail applications are being routinely filed, particularly in Bihar and Jharkhand, resulting in unnecessary litigation reaching the Supreme Court.