Even single day's delay in deciding bail plea adversely affects fundamental rights of citizens: SC
New Delhi (PTI): Deprecating the practice of courts keeping bail applications pending for years, the Supreme Court has said that even a single day's delay in deciding such matters adversely affects the fundamental rights of citizens.
The apex court has time and again emphasised the importance of personal liberty, a bench of Justices B R Gavai and K V Viswanathan said in an order passed on Friday.
"It has been observed by this court (that) even a single day('s) delay in deciding the bail application adversely affects the fundamental rights of the citizens," it said.
"We do not appreciate the practice of keeping bail application pending for years together," it said.
The top court's observation came while hearing a plea filed by a man who said his bail application was pending before the Allahabad High Court since August last year and there was no progress in the matter.
The petitioner said the matter was adjourned repeatedly before the high court without any effective hearing.
The SC noted that it has been informed that the matter was posted for hearing before the High Court on November 11.
"... we request the judge, before whom the matter is placed, to take up the matter on the same date and decide it as expeditiously as possible and, in any case, within a period of two weeks from November 11, 2024," the bench said, while disposing of the plea.
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ED arrests Punjab minister Sanjeev Arora in fresh PMLA case
New Delhi/Chandigarh (PTI): The Enforcement Directorate on Saturday arrested Punjab industries minister Sanjeev Arora in a fresh money laundering case against him and some entities allegedly linked to him, officials said.
Arora was taken into custody under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after raids were conducted at his official residence in Chandigarh since early morning, they added.
Officials claimed Arora (62) was "non-cooperative" during the probe. He is expected to be produced before a local court on Saturday, where the agency will seek his custody for a detailed interrogation.
The ED carried out the searches at five premises across north India as part of the action.
The raids also covered two premises in Delhi and that of a company named Hampton Sky Realty Ltd in Gurugram's Udyog Vihar.
The searches were launched after the central agency registered a fresh case under the criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the officials said.
