Supreme Court Questions Calcutta HC’s Practice Of Hearing Bail Pleas In Division Bench; Seeks Report
|The Supreme Court noted that given the large number of bail applications filed and pending before the High Court, it was necessary to examine whether two judges should be dedicating time to hearing such matters.
The Supreme Court has issued notice in a Special Leave Petition (SLP) arising out of bail orders from the Calcutta High Court, questioning why regular bail and anticipatory bail applications are being heard by Division Benches instead of Single Judges, as is the practice in other High Courts.
The Bench of Justice Abhay S. Oka and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan noted that given the large number of bail applications filed and pending before the High Court, it was necessary to examine whether two judges should be dedicating time to hearing such matters.
“We wonder why regular bail applications and anticipatory bail applications are being heard by the Division Bench of this High Court, especially when in case of all other High Courts, the bail matters are being heard by the learned Single Judges. The question is whether two Hon’ble Judges of the High Court should be devoting time for dealing with regular bail applications,” the Court observed.
Accordingly, the Court directed the Registrar (Judicial) of the Calcutta High Court to submit a report explaining the reason behind this practice. The report must also include data on bail and anticipatory bail applications filed in 2024, as well as the number of pending applications as of the present date.
Liberty was granted to serve the standing counsel for the respondent-State. The matter has been listed for further consideration on February 28, 2025.
"We, therefore, direct the Registrar (Judicial) of the High Court of Calcutta to place on record a report why regular bail applications/anticipatory bail applications are being heard by the Division Bench. He is directed to furnish the data of bail applications and anticipatory bail applications filed in 2024 and pendency of such applications as of today. Liberty is granted to serve the learned standing counsel for the respondent-State, in addition," the Court ordered.
Cause Title: Mahatab Ali v. The State of West Bengal & Anr. [Diary No(s). 60183/2024]
Appearance:-
Petitioner: Senior Advocate Kaveeta Wadia, Advocates Shashank Tripathi (AOR), Chhavi Jain
Click here to read/download the Order