NEHUL PRAKASHBHAI SHAH Vs. STATE OF GUJARAT

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Incarceration of an accused before trial or conviction is a most criticized shortcoming of the judicial system. The legislature also expects the under-trial imprisonment period to be minimum. With that view in mind, certain provisions have been incorporated in the Code of Criminal Procedure. One such provision is contained in Section 437 (6) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (for short 'Code'), which runs as under:

(2.) The language of the Section selected by the legislature makes it possible to have different interpretations and as a corollary, different Courts have taken different views. As a consequence, following questions have been referred to this Bench:

(3.) We have heard learned Senior Advocate Mr.N D Nanavati appearing with Mr.Niraj Buch for applicants No.1 and 2, learned Senior Advocate Mr.P M Thakkar appearing with Mr.Tirmizi for applicant No.3 and learned Advocate General Mr.Kamal Trivedi appearing with learned Additional Public Prosecutor, Mr.A J Desai, as he then was, for respondent-State.