Kolkata: Upholding that the fundamental right of an accused to speedy trial has been given a ‘place of pride’ in our Indian judicial system, Calcutta High Court gave bail to an accused noting that there is no chance of an early conclusion of the trial.
The bench of Justice Arijit Banerjee and Justice Apurba Sinha Ray was moved by the petitioner who was in custody for more than four years. Only 11 out of 37 chargesheet named witnesses have been examined. There is no eye witness. The case is based on circumstantial evidence.
The state counsel submitted there are sufficient incriminating materials showing that the present petitioner was last seen with the victim when she was returning from her relative’s house. There are also materials showing that the petitioner used to tease the victim. When the victim refused to accept his love proposal, he threatened her with dire consequences. The said facts were deposed by the eye witnesses before the court.
The state also submitted that during trial, the Covid pandemic intervened, causing delay on the part of the prosecution. Court observed that the charge was framed on December 22, 2021. The first date for examination of the witness was fixed on January, 18, 2022 that was even after the end of second Covid wave. Thereafter, at least 30 dates were fixed for prosecution evidence but only 11 out of 37 witnesses were examined. The court observed that the fundamental right of an accused to speedy trial has been given a “place of pride” in the Indian judicial system and ordinarily no other consideration can be higher than such right. “An accused cannot be kept in incarceration for an indefinite period. The prosecution may have an iron cast case against the accused but the prosecution is under a duty to bring the trial to its logical conclusion by producing all the evidence within a reasonable period of time,” court said. The court granted conditional bail on bond.