‘Stereo type orders are passed by the High Courts without any application of mind’: Apex Court berates MP High Court for failing to apply correct principles of law & denying bail to 70-year-old ailing man
Justices J B Pardiwala  & Ujjal Bhuyan [03-07-2024]

Read Order: BHERULAL v. THE STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH [SC-Petition(s) for Special Leave to Appeal (Crl.) No.8388/2024]

LE Correspondent

New Delhi, July 4, 2023: Granting bail to a 70-year-old visually impaired convict, the Supreme Court has admonished the Madhya Pradesh High Court for  taking a “casual approach” and rejecting several applications filed by the ailing man who had already served two out of the four years sentence awarded to him.

The Apex Court held that the law is well settled that if the sentence imposed by the trial court is for a fixed term, then ordinarily the appellate court should consider the plea for suspension of sentence liberally, unless there are any exceptional circumstances emerging from the record of the case to decline such relief.

“There is nothing observed by the High Court in its impugned order as to why the plea for suspension of sentence deserved to be declined. The High Court has not said anything about any exceptional circumstances,” observed a Bench of Justice J B Pardiwala  and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan.

Observing that the petitioner is 70 years of age and is ailing, his vision is almost 90% impaired and that he has already undergone two years of sentence, the Bench said, “We take notice of the fact that stereo type orders are passed by the High Courts without any application of mind… There is nothing on record to indicate that his release on bail pending appeal would thwart the course of justice. The High Court could have easily considered the plea for suspension of sentence in the first instance itself.”

It further added that “Such casual approach of the High Court has led to the filing of this Special Leave Petition before the highest court of the country. This litigation could have been easily avoided had the High Court applied the correct principles of law governing the suspension of sentence of fixed terms of imprisonment”.

The Top Court thus ordered that the petitioner be released on bail subject to terms and conditions that the trial court may deem fit to impose.