The Delhi High Court has refused to grant interim bail to a murder accused, who sought the relief on the ground that he has to attend regular classes for Ph.D in University of Gujarat campus.
The high court said undoubtedly, every individual has the right to pursue education but here the 23-year-old petitioner is an accused of a serious offence of murder and has to be dealt with accordingly looking into the gravity of offence.
Justice Rajnish Bhatnagar said the court failed to understand as to why the petitioner, despite being in judicial custody, has opted for pursuing Ph.D from a university which mandatorily requires attending full-time coursework.
"One cannot also lose sight of the fact that in the present case, the petitioner is pursuing his Ph.D for which as per the reply received from the university he has to attend the full-time Ph.D coursework (consisting of two semesters) and the coursework is mandatory for Ph.D scholars.
"Here I failed to understand as to why the petitioner has opted for pursuing his Ph.D from a university which requires to attend the full-time Ph.D coursework mandatorily despite being in judicial custody while various other options are being available for the persons in judicial custody to pursue their educational goals," the judge said.
The high court noted that the petitioner is an accused in a murder case for which the trial is yet to commence and the case is listed before the trial court for the purpose of arguments on charge.
"… the grant of interim bail for a period of 3 months will hamper the trial. The petitioner is accused in a murder case and there are allegations of threats to the complainant," it said.
"Therefore, keeping in view the entire facts and circumstances of the case and also looking into the nature and gravity of the offence no ground for interim bail is made out at this stage. The present petition is accordingly dismissed," the court said.
The man was seeking interim bail for a period of three months on the ground that he has to attend regular classes for his Ph.D and the session has already commenced from September 13, failing which the admission will be cancelled.
His counsel submitted that the petitioner was a young man and his entire career was at stake due to the alleged false case and grave injustice would be caused to him due to his non-attending of classes.
The prosecutor opposed the plea saying the allegations against the man were serious in nature and granting him interim bail for three months would hamper the trial.
-With PTI Input
