Law: Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), 1898

Section: 9(C)

Headnotes:

Criminal Procedure Code, 1898 (V of 1898) – S. 497, S. 498 & S. 167(5) –
Control of Narcotic Substances Act, 1997 (XXV of 1997), S. 9(c) – Pre-arrest bail – Female accused – False implication – Same occurrence – Mala fide – Further inquiry – Extraordinary relief.

Held: The petitioner, a female accused, was implicated through a separate F.I.R. (No. 36/2014) arising from the same occurrence in which her husband had already been booked in F.I.R. No. 35/2014. Such duplication of cases reflected mala fide on the part of police, creating reasonable doubt regarding her culpability.
Nothing was to be recovered from her possession; the only allegation was that she fled into her house, leaving behind a shopping bag containing charas. The Court observed that pre-arrest bail, though extraordinary, is meant to protect innocent and respectable citizens from humiliation and unjustified arrest.

When circumstances disclose reasonable doubt and further inquiry, particularly where the accused is a woman and no recovery is required, courts must exercise their conscious jurisdiction to prevent abuse of process.
Sending such an accused to jail merely to obtain post-arrest bail later would be a mockery of law.