New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court has expressed anguish over an order of the Madhya Pradesh High Court which held a convict's plea for the suspension of sentence could be allowed only when they had served half of their sentence.

A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan granted bail to a man and said a convict should be granted bail if there was no chance of appeal against conviction being heard in near future in high courts due to huge pendency of cases.

"We are surprised that the high court invented a new proposition of law that has no basis," the bench said on April 17.

The top court said the high court should have applied the law as it exists and the petitioner should not have been forced to move before it for bail.

The high court order said, "In view of the fact that tainted currency notes have been recovered from the pocket of pant of the appellant and there is no explanation for the same, no case is made out for grant of suspension of sentence and grant of bail

It added, "Second application has been filed... just less than two months of rejection of first application. Accordingly, it is clarified that appellant may revive his prayer for suspension of sentence after undergoing half of the jail sentence including remission."

The apex court also took exception to trial courts and high courts denying bail to the accused in cases involving ordinary violation of law despite its several rulings.