Saurabh Malik
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, June 23
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has put an end to the age-old practice among police officials to add non-bailable offences to the FIRs after the accused have been granted interim bail for defeating the purpose of anticipatory bail.
Justice Arun Monga ruled that an investigating officer or a police official could not add an offence to a pre-existing FIR after the court had granted interim bail to the accused. Otherwise just about every investigating officer would have the convenient option to subvert and sabotage a judicial order.
THE EXCEPTION
At the same time, it is not to be construed that if an accused who is enlarged on bail, subsequently commits a non-bailable offence, unrelated to the FIR in question, he cannot be arrested without permission or cancellation of bail order. Justice Arun Monga
The ruling came in a case where the police added the offence of rape to an FIR in a kidnapping case after the accused was granted the concession of interim bail.
Taking up the petition filed against the state government by the accused through counsel Meenu, Justice Monga also directed Punjab DGP to sensitise all police officers in the state "in the overall interest of better administration of criminal justice".
The DGP was also given the liberty to issue appropriate orders stating that an investigating officer or police official would seek the court's prior permission before further adding any section to the existing FIR, after the accused had been enlarged on interim anticipatory or regular bail.
"At the same time, it is not to be construed that if an accused who is enlarged on bail, subsequently commits a non-bailable offence, unrelated to the FIR in question, he cannot be arrested without permission or cancellation of bail order," Justice Monga added.
from The Tribune https://ift.tt/3fRekWP
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