Matter of serious concern: Delhi High Court on prolonged pendency of bail matters

The Delhi High Court recently expressed indignation at the prolonged pendency of bail applications in courts [Amir Vs State NCT of Delhi].

Justice Girish Kathpalia stated that such pendency is a matter of serious concern, causes trauma and violates the fundamental rights of accused persons.

The observations were made in relation to a bail plea of a murder accused whose petition was filed before the High Court in December 2024 and was adjourned multiple times since then by different benches.

“It is a matter of serious concern that bail applications remained pending for such inordinately long period before the Court of Sessions as well as this court. As mentioned above, even in this court, this bail application remained pending since 20.12.2024 and has come up before me today for the first time," Justice Kathpoalia said.

It further stated that prolonged pendency of bail pleas causes trauma to accused persons detained in jails and violates fundamental rights. 

“It has been repeatedly observed in plethora of judicial pronouncements that whether it be allowed or be dismissed, a bail application should not remain pending for such long periods. For, that in itself is a trauma for the incarcerated accused and violation of his fundamental rights," the judge opined.  

Amir, who has been accused of murder, submitted that the incident that led to the man’s death occurred in the spur of the moment. For his alleged involvement in the incident, Amir stated that he has been in custody since October 2021. 

While opposing the bail plea, the State conceded that there is no possibility of witness tampering if bail is granted to Amir since the prosecution witnesses have already been examined. 

The Court took note of the anguish caused to Amir due to the pendency of the bail application in trial court for over twenty-five months. 

“Before proceeding further, I must place on record the anguish, expressed genuinely and politely by learned counsel for accused/applicant that for 25 months his bail application remained pending before the trial court despite his having filed early hearing application; and even before this court, the suffering did not reduce and this application remains pending till date,” the Court stated. 

In light of the above, the Court granted bail to Amir and directed that the order shall get “immediately transmitted” to the Jail Superintendent.

Advocate Aman Akhtar appeared for the accused. 

Additional Public Prosecutor Sanjeev Sabharwal for State.

[Read Judgment]