State's "chalta hai" attitude one of the biggest hurdles in disposing bail cases: Uttarakhand High Court

The Uttarakhand High Court recently took a poor view of the State government's “chalta hai" attitude in dealing with a bail case, while observing that the State was one of the biggest hurdles in the expeditious disposal of bail matters [Mahboob Ali v State of Uttarakhand]..Justice Ravindra Maithani made the observation on finding that the State was not cooperating with the disposal of a bail case despite the judge expressing concerns on several occasions.“The state of affairs exhibited by the State in the instant case reflects nothing but, “chalta hai attitude”, which is dangerous to the rule of law,” the Court said. State is one of the biggest hurdles in expeditious disposal in the bail matters, the single-judge added..The applicant who was charged with the offences of extortion, voluntarily causing hurt, intentional insult, and criminal intimidation had sought bail. The applicant was alleged to have gotten a false molestation case registered against the informant to extract money.On examining the counter-affidavit filed by the police, the Court found that several important facts were missing and thus another affidavit with answers to specific questions was called for..This affidavit, however, was not filed despite multiple adjournments. The Court also took note of the fact that the State was represented by different counsel on each date.“After 4 dates, the State failed to file short counter affidavit. There is no response as to why they failed," the Court noted. .The single-judge highlighted that the Supreme Court had issued directions in a number of cases for the expeditious disposal of bail cases. However, the High Court wondered how this could be done if the State did not place material to assist the Court..Justice Maithani therefore, directed that this order to be sent to the concerned Senior Superintendent Police (SSP), and the Principal Secretary Law Cum Legal Remembrancer.The SSP was asked to file an affidavit personally and appear in court to answer questions on the next date.The Principal Secretary was directed to submit a report before the next date as to action taken in order to prevent such conduct in the future.“The Court expects that it should not be a mere formality. If somebody has failed, strict actions, as per law, should be taken,” it was observed..With this, the case was listed for further hearing on September 27, 2022..[Read Order]