Blackbucks Death Case | Habeas Corpus Plea Not Maintainable After Bail Rejection: MP High Court Reiterates

The Madhya Pradesh High Court has dismissed a habeas corpus petition filed by a man alleging illegal detention in the case concerning the death of two Blackbucks, holding that such a plea is not maintainable when the petitioner's bail application was already rejected by this court. 

The division bench of Justice Vijay Kumar Shukla and Justice Alok Awasthi observed; 

"In the case at hand also, as stated above, the bail application of the petitioner i.e. M.Cr.C. No.5598 of 2026 has already been dismissed by the High Court vide order dated 26.02.2026. Now present petition has been filed seeking writ in the nature of habeas corpus, which is not permissible in the eyes of law". 

The petitioner had approached the High Court seeking a writ of habeas corpus, contending that he was being illegally detained by the State. 

Per the facts, in December 2024, three men, including Salman, Imtiaz and Johar Hussain, were apprehended with 64.70 kgs of meat belonging to the protected wildlife species, namely Blackbucks and Chinkara. The authorities further recovered a country-made pistol with cartridges, a mobile phone and a vehicle from their possession. Subsequently, based on the memorandum statements of the accused, the petitioner was arrested on October 27, 2025. 

The counsel for the petitioner argued that no recovery was made from him and that he was solely implicated based on statements of the co-accused. Further, the counsel conteded that the grounds of arrest were not communicated to the petitioner, despite such disclosure being mandatory under the law. 

The counsel for the State opposed the petition, arguing that the petition was not maintainable as his custody could not be termed illegal. 

The bench observed that after his arrest, the petitioner had filed a bail application, which was dismissed by the High Court in February 2026. The court further noted, 

"The said order reflects that the present petitioner was found in the video clip with two dead blackbucks. Therefore, it cannot be said that the petitioner is in illegal custody as all the necessary measures have been followed". 

In such circumstances, the court held that the petitioner's judicial custody could not be treated as illegal detention. 

Relying on the Supreme Court's judgment, State of Madhya Pradesh & Others v/s Kusum Sahua, the court reiterated that once an accused is in judicial custody pursuant to a valid judicial order, a writ of habeas corpus is not maintainable merely because the bail was denied. 

Accordingly, the bench dismissed the petition and granted liberty to the petitioner to raise all available grounds before the Trial Court. 

Case Title: Sabha Antulay v State of Madhya Pradesh, WP-15777-2026

For Petitioner: Advocate Ali Kaashif Khan Deshmukh

For State: Additional Advocate General Sonal Gupta

Click here to read/download the Order