KASHMIRA SINGH vs THE STATE OF PUNJAB

The Supreme Court addressed the practice of granting bail to an accused pending appeal, specifically under Order XLVII Rule 6 and Order XXI Rule 6 of the Supreme Court Rules. The Court held that the longstanding practice of denying bail to those sentenced to life imprisonment is unjust if the appeal is not heard within a reasonable time frame. In this case, the appellant had been in custody for approximately 4.5 years, and the Court found it unjust to continue his detention, thus granting bail based on the prima facie merits of his appeal.