NEW DELHI: The Delhi HC has expressed concern over the pendency of bail applications, taking a serious view of the trauma that it causes to the accused and its detrimental effect on the justice delivery process.
Justice Girish Kathpalia made the observation while granting bail to one Amir, who has been in custody since October 2021 after being arrested in a murder case. The court noted that his application was submitted to the high court in December 2024, but the matter was adjourned multiple times by various benches.
“It is a matter of serious concern that bail applications remained pending for such inordinately long periods before the Court of Sessions as well as this court. As mentioned above, even in this court, this bail application remained pending since December 20, 2024 and has come up before me today for the first time,” the judge observed in an order passed on February 12.
The judge further noted the “distress” the accused had faced when his bail application remained pending in a trial court for over 25 months and then for over an year in the high court. The judge stressed, “A bail application should not remain pending for such long periods. For, that in itself is a trauma for the incarcerated accused and violation of his fundamental rights.”
The judge granted the relief after the prosecution submitted that granting bail to Amir would not pose a risk of witness tampering.