Supreme Court disapproves ‘long dates’ in matters of liberty

The Supreme Court on Thursday said courts were not expected to keep the matters concerning liberty after a long gap. A bench of Justices B R Gavai and Augustine George Masih made the observation after being informed that the Punjab and Haryana High Court posted the hearing of a plea for temporary bail on medical grounds after two months.

The petitioner’s counsel said he had approached the high court for the grant of temporary bail on the ground that her client’s two-year-old daughter needed urgent surgery.

The lawyer argued the high court, in its order passed on February 21, posted the matter on April 22.

“In the matters of liberty, the courts are not expected to keep the matter at such a long date,” the bench said and permitted the petitioner to move the high court for an earlier hearing.

The bench asked the high court to advance the date and hear the issue at least with regard to grant of temporary bail on the medical ground of operation of the petitioner’s daughter.

The petitioner’s counsel said he had already filed an application before the high court, where his regular bail was pending, for the advancement of the hearing but it was dismissed. “Now, with this observation, do you think that the high court will reject it?” Justice Gavai asked. The bench said if it would issue notice on the plea, the respondent would seek time to respond to it and the matter might get delayed.

In the high court, said the court, the matter could be taken up expeditiously.

“We expect the high courts to at least give some weightage to our request,” Justice Gavai observed.

The counsel said the petitioner sought interim bail before the high court but the matter was kept for hearing along with the main petition in April.