The Supreme Court has disapproved the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s unusual course of recalling its earlier dismissal of an anticipatory bail plea and subsequently granting relief to the accused. Holding such a procedure impermissible in law, the Court restored the original order rejecting the bail application.
The Division Bench of Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah and Justice S.V.N. Bhatti considered the validity of a Punjab and Haryana High Court order, which had revived proceedings on an anticipatory bail plea already dismissed on January 17, 2025.
The appellant argued that once a detailed order of dismissal had been rendered, the matter attained finality and could not have been reopened through a process of recall or restoration. The respondent, however, maintained that the High Court had assigned cogent reasons for revisiting the earlier order.
The Apex Court, agreeing with the appellant, observed, “The learned Single Judge, after having passed an order dismissing the prayer for anticipatory bail, could not have revived the proceedings, much less by way of restoration. The Court could not have then proceeded to reverse its earlier order by allowing the prayer for anticipatory bail which was initially rejected.”
The Bench held, “Accordingly, the order impugned dated 07.02.2025 stands set aside. The initial order dated 17.01.2025, dismissing the application and prayer for anticipatory bail, stands revived.” The Court clarified that the parties remained free to avail remedies available under law, but the recall and reversal adopted by the High Court was impermissible.
The appeal was accordingly allowed, and pending applications were disposed of.
Case Title: Gurvinder Singh Vs. Jasbir Singh @ Jasvir Singh & Anr.
Case No: Special Leave Petition(Criminal)No.3843/2025
Coram: Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah, Justice S.V.N. Bhatti
Advocate for Appellant: AOR Anil Kumar, Advs. Kunal Jindia, Gauri Swarup Bansal,
Advocate for Respondent: AORs Ajay Kumar Talesara, Karan Sharma, Advs. Jamshed Bey, Tejasvi Kumar, Syed Sarfaraz Karim, Ekansh Bansal, Renu Bhandari, Mudit Talesara, Samarth Talesara, Mohit Siwach, Chetan Manchanda
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