Recently, the Supreme Court held that an applicant has the right to file a fresh bail application even after a previous one has been rejected or cancelled. The ruling came in a case where the High Court dismissed a bail application solely on the ground that the Supreme Court while cancelling an earlier bail order, had not explicitly granted liberty to reapply. The Court observed that denying a fresh bail application on this basis was unjustified.
The appellant’s earlier bail application was allowed by the High Court but was later set aside by the Supreme Court. Following this, the appellant filed a fresh bail application before the High Court, which was rejected on the ground that the Supreme Court had not granted express liberty to file a new application.
The counsel for the appellant contended that the right to seek bail afresh is a fundamental principle of criminal jurisprudence and does not require specific permission from the Apex Court. It was argued that the High Court erred in rejecting the application solely on procedural grounds without considering the merits of the case.
The Supreme Court, in its observations, clarified that there exists no prohibition on filing a fresh bail application if circumstances permit. The Court emphasised, “Filing of a fresh bail application, once an earlier bail application has been rejected or if granted and thereafter cancelled, is a matter of right and solely on the ground that the Apex Court had not permitted filing of the fresh bail application, the High Court was not justified in dismissing the bail application.”
Setting aside the High Court’s order, the Supreme Court remanded the matter for reconsideration on merits. It directed that the bail application be restored and listed before the roster Bench of the High Court on March 4, 2025, for further proceedings.
Case Title: Vipin Kumar v. State of U.P.
Citation: SLP (Crl.) No. 17918/2024
Order Date: 13.02.2025
Coram: Justice Pankaj Mithal, Justice S.V.N. Bhatti
Advocate for Petitioner: Adv. Praveen Chaturvedi (AOR)
Advocate for Respondent: Adv. Vikas Bansal, Vijendra Singh (AOR), Apurva Mahndiyan, Deepak Goel, Krishana
Picture Source :
