GUWAHATI: The Supreme Court has ruled that an accused can be exempted from personal appearance before a court even if bail has not been granted yet. The observation came in response to an application filed by an accused seeking exemption from personal appearance, which was rejected by a trial court on the grounds that there is no provision allowing such an exemption before bail is granted.
A bench comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and SVN Bhatti clarified that the power to grant exemption from personal appearance under the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) should not be interpreted restrictively, as applying only after bail has been obtained.
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"The observation (by the High Court) that there is no provision for granting exemption from personal appearance prior to obtaining bail is not correct," the bench noted. The court further emphasised that no section within the CrPC mandates that an accused must be granted bail before seeking exemption from personal appearance.
The judgement, authored by Justice Sanjiv Khanna, cited the Supreme Court's decision in Maneka Sanjay Gandhi and Another V. Rani Jethmalani, which held that the power to grant exemption from personal appearance should be exercised liberally when the facts and circumstances warrant it.
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The court underscored that the magistrate has discretionary power under Section 205 of the CrPC to dispense with the personal attendance of an accused while issuing summons and to allow the accused to appear through a pleader.
