931 bail applications, 141 pleas for suspension of sentence pending in SC, reveals RTI

Source:-https://www.tribuneindia.com

Amid controversy over urgent hearing of bail pleas of journalist Arnab Goswami and some others, a response to an RTI query has revealed that 1,070 pleas for bail and suspension of sentence pending in the Supreme Court as on December 18 last year.

Responding to RTI activist Saket Gokhale, the Supreme Court’s Central Public Information Officer Ajay Agarwal stated in his December 18 reply that 931 matters relating to bail, interim bail and anticipatory bail; and 141 pleas for suspension of sentence were pending before the top court.

Agarwal, however, declined to furnish information with regard to an average waiting period between filing and listing of an interim bail application, saying, “The information/data is not maintained in the manner as sought for.”

The Supreme Court CPIO advised Gokhale to visit the court’s website “for getting the desired information”. The reply stated that “all matters are listed/eliminated/deleted as per guidelines, practice and procedure which are available in public domain viz website www.sci.gov.in under the link “Practice & Procedure” and also in accordance with the circulars and general and specific directions of the Hon’ble Court.”

In the recent past, the top court had given urgent hearing to pleas of journalists Arnab Goswami and Vinod Dua and activist-lawyer Prashant Bhushan and granted them protection from coercive action by the police.

In May last year, the Supreme Court had granted protection from coercive action to Bhushan in connection with an FIR lodged against him at Rajkot for allegedly hurting religious sentiments of Hindus.

In June 2020, the Supreme Court had assembled on Sunday and granted Dua protection from arrest in connection with an FIR registered in Shimla at the instance of Himachal Pradesh BJP leader Ajay Shyam who filed criminal complaint against the senior journalist accusing him of instigating violence against the government by allegedly spreading fake news.

Earlier, Supreme Court Bar Association president Dushyant Dave had questioned the urgent listing of Goswami’s petition challenging a Bombay High Court order denying him interim bail in an abetment to suicide case by the SC.