BASANT KUMAR Vs. STATE OF RAJASTHAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) IN this fifth bail petition in a case under Sections 147, 148, 149, 302 and 120B of the Indian Penal Code the contention .of the accused petitioner is that there is unreasonable delay in trial and the petitioner cannot be put to long incarceration. The prosecution submitted a long list of 53 witnesses and only 37 witnesses have been examined so far which shows that the trial is likely to consume more time. In view of the constitutional right of speedy trial guaranteed to the petitioner under Article 21 of the Constitution he is entitled to be released on bail. I was taken through the earlier orders passed by me and the order sheets of the trial court.

(2.) LEARNED Public Prosecutor with the assistance of counsel for the complainant opposed the bail petition.

(3.) ARTICLE 21 of the Constitution of India clarifies and crystallises the general principle that no person shall be deprived of his life or liberty except according to procedure established by law. Speedy trial is an integral and essential part of the fundamental right to life and liberty enshrined in Article 21. It is the fundamental right both on principle and precedent that the trials to all criminal prosecutions of all offences, irrespective of their nature, should be speedy. Slow justice is the anti -thesis of decent and fair procedure provided in constitution of India. But where the delay in defeating a speedy trial has been occasioned by the absconding of the accused or by other obstructive and delaying tactics adopted by him by resorting to a series of untenable proceedings, these factors would necessarily have to be noticed for determining the issue of the denial of the constitutional right. Accused being substantially and primarily responsible for occasioning the delay must be4deemed to have waive right to speedy trial in the case. Criminal proceeding carried out after an inordinate delay which did not arise from the default of the accused nor the same is occasioned by any extraordinary or exceptional reason is violation of Article 21 which guarantees speedy trial. The matter of bail is not merely a procedural right but a substantive fundamental right as engrafted in Article 21.