The Supreme Court has restrained trial courts from issuing nonbailable warrants (NBWs) at the first instance on complaints by the “moral police” and when the accused can be presented in the court by a mere summon. Justice Bhandari, writing the judgment for the bench, issued a three-point set of guidelines to lower courts for issue of nonbailable warrants. [Link]
In many cases, including Shilpa Shetty and Richard Gere controversy, nonbailable warrants were issued on the very first hearing by the trial courts.
The bench said nonbailable warrants should be issued to bring a person to court when summons or bailable warrants would not yield the desired result. A nonbailable warrant should be issued only on the following grounds: i) when it is reasonable to believe that the person will not voluntarily appear in court; (ii) the police are unable to find the person to serve him with summons; (iii) it is considered that the person could harm someone if not placed in custody immediately.
"Personal liberty is paramount. Therefore, we caution courts to refrain from issuing NBWs at the first and second instance. "The issuance of NBWs involves interference with personal liberty. Arrest and imprisonment means deprivation of the most precious right of an individual. Therefore, the courts have to be extremely careful before issuing NBWs," the bench quoted.
The ruling came in the light of a case where a nonbailable warrant was issued against a contractor in Haridwar on the basis of a complaint filed by Sanatan Dharma Pratinidhi Sabha for breaching the agreement on construction of a ghat on the Ganga.
