Anticipatory bail only in exceptional cases: Punjab & Haryana HC

The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Wednesday (July 15) has made it clear that anticipatory bail to an accused must be granted under very exceptional circumstances as “a person couched in comparative safety of the pre-arrest bail would certainly not disclose all the facts within his knowledge.”

The purpose of anticipatory bail is to save innocent persons from harassment and inconvenience and not to shield guilty persons and criminals from custodial interrogation by the investigating agency, ruled Justice H S Madaan, while dismissing anticipatory bail plea of petitioner Gagan Inder Singh, a resident of Faridabad, who was booked for abetment to suicide.

“In case, the same (interrogation) is denied to the agency that shall leave many glaring loopholes and gaps, adversely affecting the investigation, which is uncalled for,” observed the HC.

The petitioner was booked by Faridabad police on complaint of a 63-year-old Faridabad woman whose daughter, 39, was unmarried and owned a beauty parlour near NIT, Faridabad.

The accused had earlier approached the local court in Faridabad, which on June 29 had dismissed his pre-arrest bail plea. Aggrieved from this, the accused had then approached the high court.