Punjab & Haryana High Court: Downloaded Copies Of Orders Of Bail, Suspension Of Sentence Sufficient To Secure Release
Punjab & Haryana High Court held that if the attesting officer wants to verify the authenticity, such an officer can also verify it and may download and use the downloaded copy for attesting bonds.
The Punjab & Haryana High Court has held that to secure release, downloaded copies of the orders uploaded online for bail or suspension of sentence are sufficient to restore liberty without any delay.
The Court was considering an Application under Section 430 of BNSS, 2023, seeking suspension of sentence.
The Division Bench of Justice Anoop Chitkara and Justice Mandeep Pannu held, "To ensure that every person in judicial custody who has been granted bail or whose sentence has been suspended gets back their liberty without any delay, it is appropriate that whenever the bail order or the orders of suspension of sentence are not immediately sent by the Registry, computer systems, or Public Prosecutor, then in such a situation, to facilitate the immediate restoration of the liberty granted by any Court, the downloaded copies of all such orders, subject to verification, must be accepted by the Court before whom the bail bonds are furnished."
The Applicant was represented by Advocate J.P. Jangu.
The matter related to demand of ransom and offences punishable under Sections 364-A and 364 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860.
The Court helddthat considering the time which is likely to take for the turn of the Appeal for actual hearing, the amount of ransom being ₹ 50,000/-, coupled with the gun shot injury on leg (right thigh), which is a non-vital part of the body, and the applicant’s custody of more than 8 years 03 months with remission and more than 7 years and 1 months without remission, are sufficient grounds to suspend the sentence.
It thus, without expressing any final opinion on the case's merits and in the peculiar facts and circumstances of the matter, ordered that the execution of the sentence of imprisonment be suspended till further orders.
While noting that the order shall come into force from the time it is uploaded on the Court's official webpage, it observed, "There would be no need for a certified copy of this order for furnishing bonds, and any Advocate for the convict can download this order along with case status from the official web page of this Court and attest it to be a true copy. If the attesting officer wants to verify the authenticity, such an officer can also verify it and may download and use the downloaded copy for attesting bonds."
The Application was thus allowed.
Cause Title: Amit Rana vs. State of Haryana
Click here to read/ download Order