ALLAHABAD: The Allahabad High Court has ruled that the question of granting anticipatory bail does not arise in a case involving a bailable offence.
The court said a direction for the grant of anticipatory bail can only be issued in respect of non-bailable and cognizable offences and rejected the anticipatory bail plea moved by VK Traders and one Vipin Kumar.
Justice Samit Gopal, while giving the ruling on Tuesday, was of the view that for entertaining an application under section 438 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), there are two requirements as contemplated in its clause (1).
"There must be an accusation of the petitioner having committed a non-bailable offence. Obviously, this accusation must be an existing one or in any case, stemming from the facts already in existence," the judge said.
"There must be reasonable apprehension or belief in the mind of the petitioner that he would be arrested on the basis of such an accusation. The simultaneous existence of both these conditions is a sine qua non for invoking courts' jurisdiction," he added.
The court observed: "When the said two requirements are fulfilled, the high court or the court of sessions could entertain an application for anticipatory bail and then consider it on its own merit."
The applicant had moved the court for grant of anticipatory bail under section 132(1) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act.
The court found that the offences for which the relief was sought were non-cognizable and bailable and thus, rejected the plea.