If right to speedy trial infringed, bail must be considered, says SC

NEW DELHI: Supreme Court has appealed to courts to consider granting bail to accused in case of delay in trial, irrespective of gravity of offence, as the right of speedy trial is a fundamental right, reports Amit Anand Choudhary. A bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and Vijay Bishnoi granted bail to a murder accused on that ground, noting he had been in jail for four years and not a single witness had been examined during the trial. “We are mindful of the fact that the petitioner is charged with the offence of murder, but time and again, we have said howsoever serious the crime may be, if the right of speedy trial is infringed, then the court must consider the plea for bail appropriately. Here is a case wherein past almost four years, the petitioner is in jail, but not a single witness has been examined,” the bench said. “We order that the petitioner be released on bail forthwith, if not required in any other case, subject to terms and conditions that the trial court may deem fit to impose,” it said. SC had recently expressed shock over an undertrial languishing in jail for nine years as the trial was underway.