court cannot issue a blanket order restraining arrest while rejecting anticipatory bail application
In the case at hand the direction to admit the accused persons to bail on their surrendering has no sanction in law and, in fact, creates a dent in the sacrosanctity of law. It is contradictory in terms and law does not countenanceparadoxes. It gains respectability and acceptability when its solemnity is maintained. Passing such kind of orders the interest of the collective at large and that of the individual victims is jeopardised. That apart, it curtails the power of the regular court dealing with the bail applications.
32. In this regard it is to be borne in mind that a court of law has to act within the statutory command and not deviate from it. It is a well settled proposition of law what cannot be done directly, cannot be done indirectly. While exercising a statutory power a court is bound to act within the four corners thereof. The statutory exercise of power stands on a different footing than exercise of power of judicial review. This has been so stated in Bay Berry Apartments (P) Ltd. and Anr. v. Shobha and Ors.[15] and U.P. State Brassware Corporation Ltd. and Anr. v. Uday Narain Pandey[16].
There is remotely no indication that the Court of Session or the High Court can pass an order that on surrendering of the accused before the Magistrate he shall be released on bail on such terms and conditions as the learned Magistrate may deem fit and proper or the superior court would impose conditions for grant ofbail on such surrender. When the High Court in categorical terms has expressed the view that it not inclined to grant anticipatory bail to the accused petitioners it could not have issued such a direction which would tantamount to conferment of benefit by which the accused would be in a position to avoid arrest. It is in clear violation of the language employed in the statutory provision and in flagrant violation of the dictum laid down in the case of Gurbaksh Singh Sibbia (supra) and the principles culled out in the case of Savitri Agarwal (supra). It is clear as crystal the court cannot issue a blanket order restraining arrest and it can only issue an interim order and the interim order must also conform to the requirement of the section and suitable conditions should be imposed. In the case of Gurbaksh Singh Sibbia (supra) the Constitution Bench has clearly observed that exercise of jurisdiction under Section 438 of the Code is an extremely important judicial function of a judge and both individual and society have vital interest in the orders passed by the court in anticipatory bail applications
Supreme Court of India
Rashmi Rekha Thatoi & Anr vs State Of Orissa & Ors. on 4 May, 2012
Bench: K.S. Radhakrishnan, Dipak Misra
