Prem Giri vs The State Of Rajasthan

CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 662 OF 2018 (Arising out of S.L.P.(Crl.)No.1410 of 2018)

Prem Giri ….Appellant(s)

VERSUS

State of Rajasthan ….Respondent(s)

JUDGMENT

Abhay Manohar Sapre, J.

1. Leave granted.

2. This appeal is filed against the order dated

05.02.2018 passed by the High Court of Judicature

for Rajasthan at Jodhpur in S.B. Criminal Misc.

Bail No. 9471 of 2017 whereby the Single Judge of Signature Not Verified Digitally signed by

the High Court dismissed the application for ASHA SUNDRIYAL Date: 2018.05.02 17:21:17 IST Reason:

anticipatory bail filed by the appellant herein.

1

3. Facts of the case lie in a narrow compass.

They, however, need to be mentioned infra to

appreciate the short issue involved in the case.

4. The appellant apprehending his arrest in

connection with commission of the offences

punishable under Sections 143, 341, 323, 308 332

and 353 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (hereinafter

referred to as “IPC”) pursuant to FIR No. 332/2017

registered at Police Station Jaitaran, District Pali

filed an application for grant of anticipatory bail

under Section 438 of the Code of Criminal

Procedure, 1973 (hereinafter referred to as “the

Code”) before the High Court of judicature for

Rajasthan at Jodhpur being S.B. Criminal Misc.

Bail No. 9471/2017.

5. The Single Judge by order dated 22.11.2017

dismissed the application. The appellant, felt

aggrieved by the order of dismissal, filed S.L.P.(Crl.)

2 No. 9672 of 2017 in this Court, which on being

granted leave was registered as Criminal Appeal No.

2188/2017.

6. This Court, by order dated 14.12.2017

(Annexure-P-5) allowed the appeal, set aside the

order dated 22.11.2017 passed by the Single Judge

of the High Court and remanded the case to the

High Court with a request to decide the appellant's

bail application afresh on merits.

7. This Court remanded the case to the High

Court because it was noticed that the High Court

while dismissing the application had not assigned

any reason in support of the dismissal.

8. On remand, the High Court, by impugned

order dated 05.02.2018 in S.B.Crl. Misc. Bail No.

9471/2017, without setting out the facts and

assigning any reasons, again dismissed the

appellant's bail application, which has given rise to

3 filing of this appeal by way of special leave in this

Court by the appellant.

9. Heard Mr. Sushil Kumar Jain, learned senior

counsel for the appellant and Mr. Anish Kumar

Gupta, learned counsel for the respondent-State.

10. Having heard the learned counsel for the

parties and on perusal of the record of the case, we

are inclined to allow the appeal and while setting

aside of the impugned order remand the case to the

High Court for deciding the bail application afresh

on merits and in accordance with law.

11. The impugned order reads as under:

“Heard learned counsel for the accused petitioner, learned Public Prosecutor so also learned counsel for the complainant.

After perusing the order impugned and considering the facts and circumstances of the case, I am not inclined to grant anticipatory bail to the accused petitioner, hence, the instant application for anticipatory bail is hereby dismissed.”

4

12. It seems that while passing the impugned

order, the order dated 14.12.2017 passed by this

Court on the earlier occasion in this very case was

not brought to the notice of the High Court.

13. In our view, the order impugned also suffers

with the same error on which this Court, by order

dated 14.12.2017, had set aside the earlier order of

the High Court. In other words, this Court set aside

the earlier order of the High Court because it did

not contain any reasoning. The impugned order

suffers from the same error.

14. We, therefore, allow the appeal, set aside the

impugned order dated 05.02.2018 and remand the

case to the High Court with a request to decide the

bail application filed by the appellant under Section

438 of the Code afresh on merits in accordance with

law.

5

15. Needless to observe, the High Court will take

into consideration our earlier order dated

14.12.2017 while passing the order on the

application.

………...................................J. [R.K. AGRAWAL]

…...……..................................J. [ABHAY MANOHAR SAPRE] New Delhi;

May 02, 2018

6