Summary
The Supreme Court cancelled bail granted to five accused solely on parity with a co-accused whose bail had already been set aside. The earlier cancellation concerned serious allegations of an armed unlawful assembly causing two deaths and injuries; the parity foundation for these grants therefore failed. The Court did not resolve disputed evidence as at trial. To preserve fairness, it allowed fresh High Court bail applications conditional on surrender within 24 hours of uploading the order.
Issues
- Whether bail granted solely by parity could survive cancellation of the foundational co-accused’s bail order.
Provisions considered
- Section 439, Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973The challenged grants rested solely on parity with an order already set aside for improper exercise of bail discretion. (¶ 11-18)
- Article 136, Constitution of IndiaThe Court intervened to cancel the derivative bail grants while preserving a conditional opportunity for fresh applications. (¶ 18)
Held
- The five High Court bail orders rested on parity with Narendra’s order. Once that order was set aside, those derivative grants could not stand on that foundation. (¶¶ 8-15, 18)
- The earlier cancellation had addressed the serious allegations, injured witness account and unlawful assembly liability rather than treating uncertainty over the individual shooter as sufficient for bail. Disputed hospital and FIR details were not to be conclusively resolved in these bail appeals. (¶¶ 11-12, 16-17)
- All five accused were directed to surrender forthwith. They could move the High Court afresh if they surrendered within 24 hours of the order’s uploading, allowing individual grounds to be presented without preserving the invalid parity grants. (¶ 18)
Result
Appeals allowed; bail of the five respondents cancelled, with conditional liberty to seek fresh bail after timely surrender.