Madras High Court holds special sitting on Sunday; grants interim bail to accused to perform father's last rites

The Madras High Court held a special sitting on Sunday and granted interim bail to an accused person for performing the last rites and rituals of his father who passed away on August 18 [Sathish v. State]..Single-judge Justice G Jayachandran, after hearing the parties, granted interim bail for three days to the petitioner on his own bond."Considering the submissions, this Court is of the view that interim bail for 3 days from today on own bond shall be granted for the petitioner with police escort to visit his village and complete the post rituals. He shall report and surrender to the prison authorities on August 24, 2022 at 10.30 a.m," the Court directed.The hearing was held after the counsel for the petitioner Sathish, moved Chief Justice Munishwar Nath Bhandari to hear the matter urgently.The Chief Justice agreed to list the matter and assigned the case to single-judge Justice Jayachandran.The petitioner is accused of offence under Section 399 (making preparation to commit dacoity) of the Indian Penal Code and has been in judicial custody since August 6. When the matter was taken up for hearing on Sunday, the Government Advocate (Crl.Side) for the State took notice and on instructions submitted that the petitioner is having two previous cases under the NDPS Act and there is threat to his life by the rival gang. Further, he also submitted that the last rites of the petitioner's father was performed on August 20 and, therefore, the petitioner is not entitled to bail on merits as well..The Court, however, deemed it fit to grant interim bai. . The bench posted the bail plea before the regular Court on August 25.The petitioner was represented by advocate DR Arun Kumar while the State was represented by NS Suganthan..[Read Order]