PLD 2021 SC 892
Maintainability of the second pre-arrest bail petition after withdrawal of the first pre-arrest bail petition without satisfactory explanation for withdrawing the earlier pre-arrest bail petition.
Filing a pre-arrest bail petition, enjoying the concession of ad interim bail granted therein and then simply withdrawing the petition in order to file another one after sometime and availing the same benefit of ad interim bail once again, in the absence of any lawful explanation or justification, is a sheer abuse of the process of the court.
While the accused can approach the same court with a fresh pre-arrest bail petition if the earlier one has been withdrawn without advancing arguments on merits, the court must be watchful that the successive petition is not readily entertained or the concession of ad interim bail granted to the accused, unless he furnishes satisfactory explanation for withdrawal of the first petition and filing of the second one; otherwise, an unscrupulous accused can abuse the process of court for ulterior purposes. Therefore, the accused must be required by the court to furnish satisfactory explanation for withdrawing the first pre-arrest bail petition at the time of entertaining the second pre-arrest bail petition. Unless there is satisfactory explanation, the second bail petition should not be entertained, because otherwise the accused would have an unchecked license to abuse the concession of ad interim pre-arrest bail by misusing the court-process, and hoodwink the Police to prolong the investigation. Therefore, while the accused has access to courts to seek pre-arrest bail, even successively for justifiable reasons, he cannot be permitted to abuse the concession of ad interim bail to stall the investigation and play hide and seek with the criminal justice system. In case the accused fails to give satisfactory explanation for his withdrawal of the earlier pre-arrest bail petition and the need for filing the fresh one, his second or successive pre-arrest bail petition shall not be maintainable.
Bail Before Arrest
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