Being aggrieved of the ruthless comments made upon Birbal by Akbar (His Majesty) in front of the entire Darbar, Birbal has decided to file a Defamation Complaint before the Court of Law. (If you feel clueless, read the first paragraph of - PREVIEW OF DEFAMATION COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE ) Also, Birbal is clueless about the legal process, so he approached Me ( Note: this anecdote is fictional, if you have not realized till now). I had to tell him the following information to make him aware about “Defamation Case Procedures in Indian Courts” in exchange of some legal-fee of course: SECTION 499: Defamation is a Criminal offence under Section 499 of Indian Penal Code . This legal provision contains the legal definition of ‘Defamation’, which has to be followed by Courts and the judicial fraternity in order to convict or acquit an Accused person. Short-Gyan: Did you know that making defamatory comments against a dead individual is also a criminal defamation offence! PUNISHME...
After getting to know about the Drafting part of a Bail Application from the last shorticle, now, I can finally address the elephant in the room – What is the Court Procedure Involved in Obtaining Bail?
Let us break the whole process into 03 layers for everyone's easy understanding:
(a) FILING Stage;
(b) HEARING Stage; and
(c) EXECUTION Stage.
A. FILING STAGE
It goes without saying that in order to obtain a Bail order from the Court, you have to first approach the Court in the right manner. Following is considered to be the right manner of filing Bail Application before the Mumbai Sessions Court:
1. Cross-Check: Cross-check if you have printed your Bail Application on Green-Ledger papers in the below mentioned order:
a. Bail Application (Paste Court Fee worth Rs. 10)
b. List of Documents: This is a mere bullet-list of all the exhibited documents.
c. Exhibits (i.e. Exhibit A; Exhibit B; Exhibit C and so on)
d. Vakalatnama (Paste Court Fee worth Rs. 10): A document which states that your client is appointing you as his/her Advocate to file and argue this matter on his/her behalf.
e. Docket: This is the last page of Bail Application containing the cause title of the case and address of the concerned Advocate.
2. Presentation Form: Go to the Filing Department (Criminal) of the Court and obtain a “Presentation Form” for filing a Bail Application, and Fill the form with appropriate details.
3. Stitching: Place the Presentation Form at the top of all the Bail Application papers (at Sr. No. 1) and stitch the whole bunch with a Green thread.
4. Photo-Copy: Take 03 Xerox copies of the whole bunch for the Assistant Public Prosecutor (“APP”), I.O. of the Police Station, and Yourself on White-Ledger papers.
5. Service to APP & Police: Serve 01 copy to the APP office and 01 copy to the Police Station and take their respective Acknowledgment Stamps on the Original Green copy. This shall serve as a proof that you have already served the Bail Application to the APP and the Police Station, which is a mandate.
6. Signature of Registrar: Go to the Filing Department again and obtain signatures of the Registrar (Criminal Department).
7. Submission: Finally, submit the Original Green copy to the window/table assigned for registering and numbering Bail Applications.
After submitting the Bail Application, you will obtain a Bail Application Number, Court Room Number and the Next Date of the matter, which is usually 1-2 days after the filing date.
B. HEARING STAGE:
1. Say of IO: On the first date of hearing, the I.O. shall file his ‘Say’ (in simple words “Reply”) before the Court. However, this process may take 2-3 dates as the I.O. usually seeks time from the Court to prepare his ‘Say’.
2. Arguments: On the date when I.O. files his ‘Say’, you may ask for a copy of the same for your reference and arguments. Depending upon the content of the ‘Say’, you must take the decision to argue the matter on the same date OR ask for an adjournment to go through the contents of the ‘Say’ properly.
3. APP's rebuttal: Depending upon your decision, once you argue the matter, it is now the APP’s chance to orally rebut your arguments.
4.
Judge’s
Order: After hearing the arguments from both sides, the Judge shall now pass
the Order to either Grant or Reject the Bail Application.
In case of Rejection, you may approach the Appellate Court by following the aforementioned process again, depending upon the merit of your case.
In case Bail is granted, the Judge shall impose conditions upon the Accused as mentioned under section 437(3) of Cr.P.C, and shall also direct the Accused to furnish a Personal Bond and/or Surety Bond (as per s. 441 Cr.P.C) so as to satisfy itself that the Accused does not run away from the process of justice.
C. EXECUTION STAGE: ….?......?
In essence, the Execution Stage contains practical information and procedure to fulfill all the Bail conditions that has been imposed by the Hon’ble Judge in the Bail Order.
However, let us discuss the same in the next penultimate shorticle of this series “HOW TO INITIATE CRIMINAL ACTION AGAINST A PERSON”
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NEXT BLOG ON:
WHAT ARE THE BAILCONDITIONS AND HOW TO FULFILL THEM?
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Advocate Shreyas Jain, being a legal practitioner based in Mumbai, specializes in Criminal Law and primarily deal with criminal matters placed before Metropolitan Magistrates and Session Courts at Mumbai & Thane. Mr. Jain is a first generation lawyer and believes in working and excelling at the ground level before going big. You may reach him through his e-mail jainshreyas1995@gmail.com
NOTE: VIEWS MENTIONED IN THE ARTICLE ABOVE ARE PERSONAL AND HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH ANY PERSON, PLACE, ORGANISATION OR ANY OTHER FALLING UNDER THE DEFINITION OF ‘PERSON’ UNDER INDIAN PENAL CODE, 1860.
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