No special consideration to foreign citizens while deciding bail, Supreme Court [Read judgment]

The Supreme court yesterday cancelled the bail granted to a British National accused of murder while observing that no special consideration can be allowed to any person on the ground that he is a citizen of different country..A Bench of Justices NV Ramana and S Abdul Nazeer passed the judgment in an appeal against an order of Punjab & Haryana High Court which had granted bail to accused Resham Chand Kaler..Kaler, a British citizen was denied bail by the trial court whereupon he approached the High Court. The High Court overturned the decision of trial court and granted bail to the accused leading to appeal in the Supreme Court..The Supreme Court in its judgment observed that the offence is of serious nature and material available on record, particularly a compact disk filed with the petition, indicated that a prima facie case was made out against the respondent..“Having heard the learned counsel appearing on behalf of the parties and perusing all the material available on record, particularly the compact disk (CD) filed with the petition, we are of the considered opinion that a prima facie case is made out against the respondent—accused, as the group of persons are seen committing the offence using deadly weapons and sticks. The seriousness and gravity of the offence can be clearly observed from the CD. However, aforesaid observations must not be construed as findings on merits.”.It then held that no special consideration can be accorded to the respondent due to the fact that he was a citizen of a different country..“Though the respondent no. 1 is not a citizen of this country (British national), yet the fact remains that he along with other persons has indulged in the criminal activity….We see no reason to accord any special consideration for respondent no.1 by virtue of a simple fact that he is a citizen of different country. The law under Section 439 of Cr.P.C is very clear and in the eyes of the law every accused is the same irrespective of their nationality.”.The Court, therefore, allowed the appeal and set aside the order of the High Court granting bail to the accused..Read the judgment below.