CHANDIGARH, Punjab—A Court of Faridkot based additional sessions judge Harpal Singh has rejected the anticipatory bail plea of former Akali MLA Mantar Singh Brar. Notably, Mantar Brar had moved an anticipatory bail plea in the session court of Faridkot on March 1 to avoid arrest.
The Special Investigation Team had opposed this anticipatory bail plea of Mantar Singh Brar by saying that it was probing the content of 157 calls exchanged between Mantar Singh Brar and the CM office, DGP office, ministers and local officials during the intervening night of October 13 and 14, 2015.
It may be recalled here that the Punjab police cops had opened an unprovoked firing on the peacefully protesting Sikhs at Kotkapura during the morning hours of October 14 of 2015 in which several Sikhs were left injured. Later, the Police cops also opened firing on the peacefully protesting Sikhs at Behbal Klan in which two Sikh youths had attained martyrdom while several others were left injured.
What is an “Anticipatory Bail”?
Under Section 438 of the Criminal Procedure Code there is a provision for a person to seek an “Anticipatory Bail”. This means that an individual can seek or request to get bail in anticipation or in expectation of being named or accused of having committed a non-bailable offence.
Anticipatory bail is meant to be a safeguard for a person who has false accusation or charges made against him/her, most commonly due to professional or personal enmity, as it ensures the release of the falsely accused person even before he/she is arrested.
To get anticipatory bail the person seeking it, must approach the Court of Sessions or the High Court and citing section 438 of the Criminal Procedure Code as well as giving proper reason, apply for it. If the court, based on a number of conditions and the nature of the case, sees merit in the petition the bail is granted. Hence if and when the person is arrested, he/she will be immediately released on the basis of the anticipatory bail.
Conditions that are taken into consideration by the court when granting anticipatory bail include, but are not limited to:
- The person will make him/herself available for interrogation by the police as and when required by them.
- The individual shall not directly or indirectly make any threat, promise or offer any bribe to any person who is connected to the case or knows facts about the case, so as to keep them quiet or to get them to change their report of facts to the court or the police.
- An assurance that the person shall not leave India without prior permission from the court.
