The High Court of J-K and Ladakh has granted bail to a policeman accused of killing his wife by throttling her at paternal house in Srinagar’s Batamaloo in 2010.
Granting bail to the accused policeman, Manzoor Ahmad Mir, a bench of Justice Sanjay Dhar said: “…long incarceration of an under trial without any likelihood of conclusion of trial in near future infringes upon the right of speedy trial of such under trial”.
“While the Supreme Court has, in some cases, gone to the extent of quashing the trial itself but consistent view of the Supreme Court has been that in case the delay in conclusion of the trial amounts to oppression or harassment, the Court can interfere in such situations and grant bail to an accused in a heinous crime like murder also,” the Court added.
While doing so, it said, the Court has to take into consideration several factors like, length of delay, the justification for the delay, the accused’s assertion of his right to speedy trial, and prejudice caused to the accused by such delay.
The court also said that while long incarceration of an accused may not be by itself a ground for grant of bail, “it certainly becomes a ground for grant of bail to an accused, if the delay in conclusion of trial is attributable to the prosecution”.
“I find that the petitioner has carved out a case for grant of bail on account of his long incarceration for more than 12 years and on account of the fact that by the conduct of the prosecution and the police department, there is hardly any chance of conclusion of trial in near future,” the court said and granted bail to Mir on furnish personal bond along with two local sureties in the amount of 1,00,000 rupees.
