Supreme Court grants anticipatory bail to patwari in graft case; raps HC for 'cryptic, unusual' order

The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted anticipatory bail to a Patwari in a corruption case while criticizing the Punjab & Haryana High Court for passing a “cryptic and unusual” order in his plea [Gursewak Singh v. State of Punjab].

A Bench of Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Sandeep Mehta was hearing a plea against an order of the Punjab & Haryana High Court, which instead of deciding the anticipatory bail application, had asked the Director General of Police (DGP) to explain why the charge sheet under Section 173(2) Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) was not filed and why the petitioner wasn't arrested for four years.

The Court held that such queries were misplaced, noting that the four-year delay in arrest itself was sufficient ground for granting anticipatory bail.

"We do not approve the manner in which the High Court has dealt with the plea of the anticipatory bail. Either the High Court should have allowed the application granting anticipatory bail or should have declined it on its own merits. Surprisingly, the High Court proceeded to grant anticipatory bail to a co-accused who is alleged to have actually accepted the bribe amount...the fact that the petitioner was not arrested for four years by itself was a good ground for the High Court to exercise its discretion and order grant of anticipatory bail," the Supreme Court said.

The case originates from a First Information Report (FIR) lodged in 2021 at the Economic Offences Branch Police Station in Ludhiana against petitioner Gursewak Singh, a Patwari, and others. He was charged under Sections 7 and 7A of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 and Section 120B of the Indian Penal Code (Criminal Conspiracy) on allegations of bribery.

Following the registration of the FIR, Singh was placed under suspension. However, the suspension was revoked, and he was reinstated on September 27, 2023. Notably, for nearly four years after the FIR, the investigating agency made no attempt to arrest him.

In 2025, petitioner received a communication from the Deputy Commissioner, directing him to appear before the Deputy Superintendent of Police, Economic Offences Branch. Apprehending arrest, he approached the Punjab & Haryana High Court seeking anticipatory bail.

The High Court, however, did not decide the application on merits. Instead, it directed the DGP of Punjab to file an affidavit explaining why the final report under Section 173(2) CrPC had not been filed against the arrested accused.

Aggrieved by this order, petitioner approached the Supreme Court.

The Court observed that although the matter was pending before the Punjab & Haryana High Court, it was unnecessary to wait for the final order.

Therefore, it directed that the petitioner be released on bail subject to conditions imposed by the Investigating Officer.

"In the overall view of the matter, although the matter is pending before the High Court, yet we need not now wait for the High Court to pass the final order. We on our own exercise our discretion and order that in the event of the arrest of the petitioner in connection with First Information Report No.05/2021 registered with Economic Offence Branch Police Station, District Ludhiana, Punjab, he shall be released on bail subject to the terms and conditions that the Investigating Officer may deem fit to impose," Court ordered.

Advocates Amit Gupta, Prannv Dhawan, Muskan Nagpal and Arun Singh appeared for the petitioner.

Additional Advocate General Vivek Jain along with advocate Siddhant appeared for the State.

[Read Order]