Delhi HC Mandates Presence Of Informant Or Authorized Person At The Time Of Hearing Bail Application Of Accused In Rape Cases [Read Direction]

The Delhi High Court on September 24, 2019, has issued a Practice Direction mandating the presence of the informant or any person authorized by him in the court, at the time of hearing of the bail application of a person accused of rape.

The directions made by the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court, Justice D. N. Patel shall come into force with immediate effect.

The direction was issued in view of the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2018, which had amended Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, to this effect.

It inserted sub-section 1A to Section 439, obligating the presence of the informant or any person authorized by him at the time of hearing of the bail application of a person accused of offences triable under Sections 376, 376AB, 376DA and 376DB of the Indian Penal Code, 1860.

The court’s direction reads as under:-

“(a) Before granting bail to a person who is accused of an offence triable under sub-Section (3) of section 376 or section 376-AB or section 376-DA or section 376-DB of the Indian Penal Code, the High Court or the Court of Session shall give notice of the application for bail to the Public Prosecutor within a period of fifteen days from the date of receipt of the notice of such application; and

(b) The Courts shall ensure that the Investigating Officer has, in writing as per Annexure A, communicated to the informant or any person authorized by her that her presence is obligatory at the time of hearing of the application for bail to the person under sub-section (3) of section 376 or section 376-AB or section 376-DA or section 376-DB of the Indian Penal Code. Annexure A shall be filed by the I.O. along with the Reply / Status Report to such bail application and the Courts shall make all endeavour to ensure presence of the informant or any person authorized by her.”

[Read Direction]