Justice PV Kunhikrishnan opined that anticipatory bail pleas moved by persons outside the country, possibly absconding, need not be entertained by the Court under the discretionary powers conferred to it by Section 438 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).
“I do not think that the direction not to entertain a bail application in a situation where the accused filed a bail application sitting in a foreign country and that also absconding after the registration of the case against him and further openly challenging the law of the land, with the knowledge of the registration of the case against him is against the dictum laid down in Sushila Aggarwal’s case In such situation, this Court has got ample powers to refuse bail because the power under Section 438 CrPC itself is a discretionary jurisdiction Such persons need not be invited to the country by a court of law invoking the powers of interim bail under section 438 CrPC is my considered opinion. It is the duty of the prosecuting agency to book him,” the Court said.
Source: Barandbench
