Thursday, September 21 2006 15:56 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has said courts should give clear reasons for granting bail in serious offences and should avoid a casual approach.

"There is a need to indicate in the order, reasons for concluding why bail was being granted particularly where an accused was charged of having committed a serious offence," a Bench of Justice Arijit Pasayat and Justice L S Panta said.

Disapproving the practise of casual disposal of bail application, it said "The court dealing with the application of bail is required to exercise its discretion in a judicious manner and not as a matter of course".

Referring to the settled proposition on the issue, the Bench said "this court in a somewhat similar situation has deprecated the practice of non-speaking orders."

"Though detailed examination of the evidence and elaborate documentation of the merits of the case is to be avoided by the court while passing orders on bail application, yet a court dealing with the bail application should be satisfied as to whether there is a prima facie case, but exhaustive exploration of case is not necessary," it said.

The nature of accusation and the severity of punishment in a case of conviction and the nature of supporting evidence must be considered while granting bail, the court said.

The ruling was delivered while setting aside the bail granted by the Orissa High Court to two persons accused of murdering their relative.

Criticing the High Court order granting bail without assigning reasons for it, the Bench observed, "What is more baffling is that in the impugned orders there is no mention about the State's stand. Was it a silent spectator before the High Court."