Chirag Madan Versus Union of India and Ors.
Court / Forum : Delhi High Court
Citation : W.P. (Crl) 986/2020
Coram : Justice D.N. Patel and Justice Prateek Jalan
Subject : Reports of Jail Superintendent for Bail Matters
Date of Decision : 2020-06-29
Brief Facts
- A writ petition was filed before High Court seeking directions for supply of status reports filed by Jail Superintendent at the time of hearing of bail applications under section 437, 438 and 439 of Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 to the accused persons.
- The petitioner argued that reports submitted by Jail Superintendent are not being supplied to the accused and orders have been passed, dismissing the bail application preferred by the accused by relying upon the report given by Jail Superintendent.
Issues
- Whether the reports submitted by Jail Superintendent at the time of hearing of bail applications under section 437, 438 and 439 of Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 should be provided to accused persons?
Decision
- It was held that whenever the Court is relying upon a report of the Jail Superintendent, which is normally called by the order of the Court for a specific purpose on case to case basis, the copy of the same should be given to the accused, save and except in exceptional cases..
- The Hon’ble High Court stated that this is a basic need for access to justice and for rendering justice to the public at large and therefore, copy of the report given by the Jail Superintendent as well as the report given by the Investigating Officer should be supplied so that accused can properly understand the reasons given therein and defend their case in the court of law.
Vipul Ganda is a Delhi based Advocate practicing largely at the Delhi High Court. His practice focus is Dispute Resolution and Litigation and his practice areas include Arbitration, Commercial, Civil, Constitutional, Corporate and Criminal Litigation.
