Power and responsibility

The Punjab and Haryana High Court’s ‘unprecedented’ order giving blanket protection from arrest till April 20 to former Punjab DGP SS Saini in all pending and future criminal cases against him has hit national headlines for its apparent indiscretion. Shocked by the sheer expanse of the order, a three-judge Bench of the Supreme Court led by CJI NV Ramana asked the chief justice of the High Court to either hear the matter himself or assign it to another judge and decide it in two weeks.

The criminal jurisprudence followed in India presumes an accused to be innocent until proven guilty and it’s nobody’s case that Saini should not be given interim or anticipatory bail in the cases he faces. But protection in future cases? ‘How can future courses of action be stayed?’ the CJI wondered. Courts play an important role in the criminal justice system as they represent the larger interests of society and the State. While the power to arrest is known to be misused by the police at times, the opposite is also witnessed quite often. Courts are expected to correct such wrongdoings on the part of the police in order to sustain people’s faith in the system.

Of late, certain orders passed by HCs have attracted opprobrium from the apex court. Be it the MP High Court’s 2020 order granting bail to a molestation accused on the condition that he would request the victim to tie him a rakhi or the Bombay HC’s 2021 ‘skin-to-skin contact’ verdict in a child sexual abuse case — the SC corrected them both. Now, the Allahabad HC order granting bail to Ashish Mishra, prime accused in the Lakhimpur Kheri case, is under challenge before the top court. Power comes with responsibility. It’s more true of judicial powers. Such misuse of powers by judges in utter disregard for well-established constitutional principles designed to check arbitrariness and indiscretion has the potential to erode public faith in the judiciary. The Supreme Court’s immediate intervention in Saini’s case should be a lesson to judges across India.

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