Calcutta High Court directs lower court to expedite trial of Bangladeshi businessman in custody for over 557 days without trial

The Calcutta High Court recently directed directed the Additional Judicial Magistrate, Mekhailganj, Coochbehar, to expedite and conclude the trial of a Bangladeshi national who had been in custody for over 557 days on charges of dishonestly receiving stolen property (Md Samiul Islam Saon v State of West Bengal)..A single judge Bench of Justice Md. Nizamuddin ordered the trial court to conclude the trial by April 10, 2021 in view of the fact that the accused had already suffered detention for more than half of the maximum period of punishment that could have be imposed if he was found guilty of the offence he stood accused of..The Court also adverted to the fact that the validity of the visa of the accused was expiring on June 19, 2021. .The accused, a Bangladeshi citizen, businessman and Managing Director of a company in Bangladesh had entered India for business on a valid visa and was arrested on the charge of allegedly recovering a highly valuable, rares metallic coin.An application for bail was moved by him under Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). .Advocates Soumajit Das Mahapatra and Tanmoy Khan, appearing for the petitioner, submitted that he has been in custody for more than 557 days, which was more than half of the maximum punishment for the alleged offence under Section 411 of the Indian Penal Code..Section 411 prescribes a maximum punishment of 3 years imprisonment for the offence of dishonestly receiving stolen property. .The petitioner further relied on a notification issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs dated September 27, 2014, wherein the Supreme Court's direction on of effective implementation of Section 436A of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) were stressed upon..Inter alia, Section 436A, CrPC states that no person shall in any case be detained during the period of investigation inquiry or trial for more than the maximum period of imprisonment provided for the said offence under that law..The High Court was also told that a co-accused, who was an Indian national, had already been enlarged on bail and that the petitioner was being discriminated against on the ground of being a Bangladeshi national..The petitioner further invited the Court's attention to an extradition treaty between India and Bangladesh and the Indian Government's obligation to extradite the petitioner..The High Court, in turn, took note of the Supreme Court's rulings in Bhim Singh vs. Union of India and Hussain and Anr. vs. Union of India. In the former case, the top Court had called for the proper implementation of Section 436A, CrPC. In the Hussain and anr case, the Court had issued guidelines for speedy trials..In view of these obligations, the High Court directed that the Bangladeshi petitioner's trial be concluded "positively within 10th April, 2021", given that he had already suffered detention for more that half the possible sentence. .The Court added that in case the trial is not concluded within this timeline, the petitioner would be entitled to bail..Additionally, the Magistrate was also directed to take necessary and effective steps towards effective implementation of the notification issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs and the decisions of the Supreme Court for the implementation of Section 436A, CrPC within four weeks..The Court further ordered the Magistrate to communicate the steps taken by him in this regard to the Registrar of the Circuit Bench of Calcutta High Court at Jalpaiguri Bench within one week. .Advocates Soumajit Das Mahapatra and Tanmoy Khan appeared for the petitioner. Advocates Nilay Chakraborty and Biswarup Roy appeared for the State. .[Read Order]