The Uttar Pradesh Government has proposed a legislation to remove the bar on grant of anticipatory bail in the State.
This was informed by the UP Additional Advocate General to the Supreme Court during the hearing of a PIl. Currently, UP and Uttarakhand are the only two States in the country where an accused cannot obtain pre-arrest bail.
Dealing with the issue in a PIl filed by advocate Sanjeev Bhatnagar, a Bench of Justices SA Bobde and lN Rao had enquired from both States on whether there was any move to revive anticipatory bail provision in the respective States.
Though anticipatory bail is provided under the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) Section 438, the same was made inoperative by way of an amendment brought about in 1976 during the Emergency.
In 2010, the then Mayawati Government in Uttar Pradesh moved an amendment to re-introduce Section 438 in the State.
But the same did not receive Presidential assent. On Monday, UP’s Additional Advocate General Aishwarya Bhati informed the apex court that the UP Government has decided to “re-introduce the provision relating to anticipatory bail in a modified form.”
She was unable to disclose the contents of the proposed legislation as a decision is to be taken shortly on placing the Bill before the legislative Assembly.
Following the statement, the court told the petitioner that in the light of the statement, the PIl may not survive against UP.
However, the same was not disposed by the court as the Uttarakhand Government is yet to submit its response.