Patna HC Warns Judicial Officers Of Contempt If They Ask Arrested Persons To Withdraw Anticipatory Bail Plea From HC As A Pre-Condition For Bail Hearing

The bench of Justice Rajeev Ranjan Prasad made this significant observation while hearing a matter wherein the anticipatory bail petition of one Rahul Kumar was being considered by the court. In fact, during the pendency of his anticipatory bail petition, the petitioner was arrested.
It may be noted that once an accused is arrested, his/her anticipatory bail petition becomes infructuous and the same stands terminated. To take an example, last year the Supreme Court had dismissed former Finance Minister and a prime suspect in the INX Media Scam, P. Chidambaram’s Plea for Anticipatory Bail in CBI case as ‘Infructuous’. The Supreme Court’s bench of Justices Bhanumati and A S Bopanna had said that Mr. Chidambaram’s petition had become ‘infructuous’ as Chidambaram had already been arrested and remanded to CBI custody. However, it was made clear by the bench that he was at liberty to seek regular bail before the trial court.