SULEMAN Vs. STATE OF UTTAR PRADESH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Leave granted.

(2.) The only issue is whether in a criminal appeal of the year 2012 pending before the High Court of Allahabad where criminal appeals in the normal course are being heard of the 1980s and the appellant having undergone 12 years of actual incarceration is still to be denied bail.

(3.) The High Court seems to think so and, to say the least, we completely disagree and are of the view that the bail should have been for the asking and the impugned order is completely unsustainable. The matter does not rest at this as we are told by learned counsel for the appellant that similar cases of incarceration running into more than 16 years are pending consideration even for grant of bail before the Lucknow Bench and the learned counsel submits that there is no criminal Bench to hear these matters for the last 25 days. This is a disturbing state of affairs, more so as we have been seized with the issue of the pendency of bail matters before the High Court of Allahabad and the Lucknow Bench and had even issued directions in this behalf for expediting the same in Saudan Singh Vs. State of Uttar Pradesh (Crl. Appeal No.308/ 2022) dtd. 25/2/2022.