| HC overhauls bail plea format, seeks full criminal disclosure | | | Early Times Report
JAMMU, July 3: In a major procedural reform aimed at bringing transparency in bail matters, the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh has amended rules for filing bail applications before the High Court as well as subordinate criminal courts across J&K and Ladakh. As per separate notifications issued by Registrar General M.K. Sharma, the High Court, with the previous approval of the Lieutenant Governor, has made it mandatory for every bail applicant to make a full and candid disclosure of crucial details before seeking relief from the court. The amendment inserts Rule 176-B in the Jammu & Kashmir High Court Rules, 1999, for bail applications before the High Court. A similar new Rule 10 has been inserted in the Rules and Orders for the Guidance of Courts Subordinate to the High Court of Judicature, Svt. 1988 (Criminal), making the same disclosure requirement applicable before Sessions Courts and Magistrate Courts. Under the new rules, every bail plea must now contain FIR number and date, police station, district and State, sections invoked, maximum punishment prescribed, date of arrest, total period of custody undergone, stage of investigation or trial, number of witnesses cited in the chargesheet and number of prosecution witnesses examined. The applicant will also have to disclose criminal antecedents, including details of previous FIRs, police stations, sections involved and their status, whether pending, acquitted or convicted. Details of previous bail applications, courts where they were filed, case numbers and their outcome will also have to be clearly mentioned. Significantly, the applicant must also inform the court whether any non-bailable warrant was issued against him or whether he was ever declared a proclaimed offender. The move is expected to curb concealment of material facts in bail petitions and assist courts in taking a complete view of the accused's custody status, trial progress, criminal history and previous attempts to secure bail before passing orders. The notifications have been circulated to all Principal District and Sessions Judges, Judicial Registrars, J&K Judicial Academy, Registrar Rules, Registrar Computers and the Government Press for publication in the next issue of the Government Gazette.
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