The Supreme Court had an interesting albeit controversial take on the undue pendency of bail cases in Bihar [Nandan Mahto vs. The State of Bihar]..A Bench of Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta said such pendency could be the reason there is peace in Bihar.The Court made the observation after a lawyer pointed out that bail matters often remain pending in Bihar for nine months"Please give direction that the trial court should expedite the trial. In Bihar, bail matters are pending for nine months," he said.In response, Justice Vikram Nath remarked, "That is why there is some peace in Bihar." The Court then proceeded to reject the petitioner's counsel's request to direct the trial court to expedite the trial after the court declined to grant bail to petitioner..However, the Court gave the petitioner, one Nandan Mahto, the liberty to withdraw the petition and apply for bail before the trial court."This petition is, accordingly, dismissed as withdrawn with liberty to the petitioner to surrender within two weeks from today and apply for regular bail before the Trial Court. If such a prayer is made, the same shall be considered by the Trial Court on its own merits," court ordered..[Read Order].[Read Live Coverage]
