Supreme Court issues notice in bail plea of man in jail for 15 years, condones delay of 11 years

The Supreme Court recently issued notice and condoned delay of 3,291 days in a bail plea of an accused who has been languishing in an Uttar Pradesh jail for more than 15 years (Bhura v. State of Uttar Pradesh)..The Bench of Justices UU Lalit, Ravindra Bhat and PS Narasimha was hearing the plea of an accused who challenged an order of the Allahabad High Court denying him bail even as the co-accused were released on bail.."The appellant is languishing in jail since October 12, 2006 i.e. for last more than 15 Years, 3 Months and 20 Days (actual imprisonment). His Criminal Appeal No.3081/2010 is pending adjudication before the Hon’ble High Court of Judicature at Allahabad for last about 12 years, which is unlikely to be finally disposed in the near future," the plea filed before the Supreme Court stated..The appellant was convicted by the trial court in 2010 on charges under Section 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 149 (unlawful assembly), 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder and 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means). He and the co-accused were sentenced to life imprisonment on the murder charge.It was pointed out that the Allahabad High Court had dismissed two bail applications filed on behalf of the appellant, and was yet to decide on the third one, which was filed in 2013. He then filed the present plea before the apex court challenging the order that was passed in 2012..The plea stated that the long incarceration of the petitioner cannot be compensated if he is ultimately acquitted..The petition filed through advocate Alakh Alok Shrivastava further relied on the Supreme Court judgment of Saudan Singh v. State of UP, wherein the apex court held that if a convict has already undergone eight years of the actual sentence (exceptions apart) pending his criminal appeal before the High Court, then in most cases bail would be the rule..On these grounds, among others, the appellant sought parity with the other co-accused who were granted bail/suspension of sentence.