Supreme Court Issues Directions To HCs To Ensure Disclosure Of Necessary Information In Bail Applications
The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued directions to the High Courts to ensure that bail applications disclose certain necessary details.
The Court directed that the applications should ordinarily reflect the following particulars:
- FIR number and date
- Name of the police station concerned
- Sections invoked by the investigating agency
- Maximum punishment prescribed for the alleged offences
- Date of arrest and total period of custody undergone
- Current status of the trial
- Details regarding compliance with procedural requirements
- Criminal antecedents of the accused, if any
- Information about previous bail applications and their status
The Court urged the High Courts to issue appropriate administrative directions or incorporate suitable provisions in their respective Rules consistent with their rule-making powers for the display of details in bail orders. The Court directed that its judgment be forwarded to the Registrar Generals of all High Courts. The copy of the judgment was directed to circulated to district judiciary for guidance.
A bench comprising Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah and Justice R Mahadevan issued the directions while cancelling the bail granted to man accused of obtaining a fake LLB degree and running a racket for supplying forged degrees.
Background
The case before the Supreme Court arises from a bail order passed by the Allahabad High Court in favour of one Mazhar Khan, who is accused of obtained a fake LL.B. degree from Sarvoday Group of Institution. The FIR further alleges that he circulated visiting cards displaying degrees of LL.B., LL.M. and Ph.D., and that he was running a racket for supplying forged degrees.
Before the High Court, the accused contended that the LL.B. degree in question was genuine and had been validly issued by Sarvoday Group of Institution.
It was argued that there was no material on record to show that the accused had supplied any fake degree to any student, and the allegations were false and frivolous. The accused further claimed the complainant, who was his sister-in-law, falsely implicated him and the case stemmed from a property dispute. It was further submitted that the applicant had no criminal history and had been in jail since April 28, 2025. An assurance was given that he would cooperate with the trial and comply with any conditions imposed by the court.
The State and counsel for the informant opposed the bail plea. They argued that the applicant's innocence could not be determined at the pre-trial stage and that he did not deserve bail.
The High Court granted bail observing that there was no convincing material to indicate the possibility of tampering with evidence.
The complainant filed the present SLP before the Supreme Court challenging this order. On November 17, 2025, the Court
Case no. – SLP(Crl) No. 12669/2025
Case Title – Zeba Khan v. State Of U.P.