Allahabad High Court News: The Allahabad High Court has given an important decision saying that in a crime where the maximum punishment is ten years, making the undertrial accused spend six years in jail and asking for more time to complete the trial is a travesty of justice. The court has said that in such cases, if the witnesses are not coming, then the trial court has enough powers to ensure their presence. The trial court has the right to issue a warrant or non-bailable warrant and order attachment if the witness does not cooperate.
The court made this comment during the hearing on the bail application of former student Aniket Dixit, who has been in jail for almost six years on charges of abetment to suicide. During the hearing, the High Court found that the trial could not be completed even in six years due to non-appearance of witnesses. The court has given this order to the trial court while accepting the bail application of the accused. The High Court has ordered to complete the hearing of the case by 31 August 2024.
A second bail application was filed on behalf of accused Aniket. A case of abetment to suicide has been registered against the petitioner Aniket Dixit in Kalyanpur police station of Kanpur city in 2018. The petitioner is in jail since 04 April 2018. The first bail application of the petitioner was rejected by the High Court on 12 September 2018. The court had directed to dispose of the case within one and a half years.
During the hearing, senior advocate IK Chaturvedi said that the petitioner is a student and he has been in jail for the last six-seven years. This is extremely unjust for an accused of abetment of suicide. The maximum punishment for the crime of abetment of suicide is ten years. The petitioner has served more than half of the maximum sentence, but the verdict of the case is still far away.
During the hearing of the case, the trial court asked for six months more time to dispose of the case, on which the court said that we have already wasted six years of time. The court said that giving six months time now is a mockery of justice. The court said that the trial court will hear the case daily without giving any adjournment to any party or their witnesses. In case of strike by lawyers, except on Sundays and other public holidays, hear hearings in open court or in its chambers. The court has directed the trial court to conclude the hearing by August 31. This order has been given by the single bench of Justice Rahul Chaturvedi.