HC: Undertrial’s right to personal liberty, speedy trial is paramount
Times of India | 28 October 2024
Kolkata: The fundamental right of an undertrial to personal liberty and a speedy trial is paramount and must override all other considerations, the Calcutta High Court stated while granting bail to a man accused of murdering his wife.
“The prosecution may have an excellent case to secure the conviction of the petitioner. Nobody stands in the way of the prosecution doing so. However, we must keep in mind that the fundamental right of an undertrial to personal liberty and a speedy trial is paramount and must override all other considerations,” the division bench of Justice Arijit Banerjee and Justice Apurba Sinha Ray ordered on Oct 7.
Solely on the ground of inordinate delay in the progress of the trial, the accused was granted bail.
Justice Banerjee sought a report regarding the delay of the trial. The state submitted that the witness action has not yet begun.
“That’s not the petitioner’s headache,” Justice Banerjee said while adding that the accused will stay far away and not enter the concerned district.
The accused was in custody for two years and six months. He was arrested in 2022, and it was after almost two years and four months that the charges against him were framed on Sept 10, 2024. He was booked under sections 498A (cruelty to a married woman by her husband or his relatives) and 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
He prayed for bail on the ground of delay.
His lawyer stated that the charge sheet was submitted on May 5, 2022, and charges were framed on Aug 6, 2024. No witness has been examined, it was submitted. However, the state submitted that the charges were framed on Sept 10.
The state advocate opposed the bail plea, stating that witness action is yet to take place. There are 17 witnesses in the case, out of which nine are “vulnerable witnesses”, including the daughter, who has implicated the father.
The complaint was filed by the father of the deceased woman in Ashokenagar PS in North 24 Parganas in April 2022.
It was stated that the victim married the accused 19 years ago. It was alleged that for two years, the accused had been torturing her and forcing her to sell their house, but the victim opposed that.
On April 2, 2022, around 1.30 pm, the accused allegedly murdered the wife and ran away. The accused denied the claims.