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TMI Blog1931 (6) TMI 1X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ts done by each accused who is convicted. 3. The complaint was filed by a police officer against 33 accused persons on 15th March 1929 and all the accused except one were arrested within a week of that date. The inquiry begin in June 1929 and 32 accused persons were committed to the Court of Session in January 1930. One accused person was discharged. The Sessions trial started in that very month and has not yet been completed. The prosecution evidence has however been concluded and the statements of the accused are being recorded. It is expected that the termination of the trial will take several months more. 4. An enormous volume of evidence has been produced by the prosecution, and consists of over 300 witnesses and over 3,000 exhib ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... legal principles applicable to bail applications it may be convenient to examine the relevant sections of the Code of Criminal Procedure at the very outset. 8. In all bailable cases Section 496, Criminal P. C., makes it imperative that bail should be granted subject to certain conditions. 9. Section 497 (as amended) first gives a discretion to the Court (particularly Magistrates) to order release on bail even in cases of nonbailable offences. This prima facie gives a Court both power to grant bail and power to refuse bail. But such a wide discretion is to some extent controlled by two restrictions. Sub-section (1) provides that if; there appear reasonable grounds for believing that he has been guilty of an offence punishable with ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... o exercise its discretion having regard to all the circumstances brought to its notice. 10. Section 498, Criminal P. C., gives an unfettered discretion to the High Court or the Court of Session to admit an accused person to bail. It is a mistake to imagine that Section 498 is controlled by the limitations of Section 497, except when there are not reasonable grounds for believing that the accused committed the offence, or there are reasonable grounds for believing that he is not guilty, in which cases it becomes a duty to release him. Magistrates can proceed under Section 497 only and their discretion is regulated by the provisions of that section; but Section 498 confers upon a Sessions Judge or the High Court wide powers to grant bail w ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... f importance and weight may have to be attached to them, and to other points also. It cannot be suggested that any one of those tests would, by itself, even in the face of other considerations to the contrary, be conclusive. It is the net result of all the considerations for and against the accused which must ultimately decide the matter. Many more considerations can be added, without any attempt to make the list exhaustive. Even the extreme youth or old age or sex of the accused may be a matter for consideration, and so also the state of his health. Such considerations are covered even by the new proviso to Section 497 (i). His previous conduct and behaviour in Court, or want of confidence in obtaining reliable sureties or the character of ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ule but only in exceptional cases. This is particularly so when the accused is on his trial, the prosecution evidence is closed and the Sessions Judge has refused to exercise his discretion in his favour. This is a rule of practice and caution only. 14. But we feel that we must point out that the learned Additional Sessions Judge has very improperly gone out of his way to criticize the soundness of some of the observations made by a learned Judge of this Court in the case of Hutchinson and Nimbkar which he was bound to respect, and to question the method adopted by the High Court for calling for affidavits, the language chosen and the tone adopted by him at some places are objectionable, and it is regrettable that he did not express hims ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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