'Clever Move': Supreme Court Deprecates 'Package' Litigation Combining Bail Plea With Challenge To Constitutionality
The Court remarked that this was as a tactic adopted to bypass High Courts and the Trial Courts.
While refusing to entertain the bail plea of an accused, the Supreme Court today deprecated the practice of litigants filing a "package" petition combining plea for bail and challenge to vires of a law with a view to circumvent lower Courts.
A bench of CJI Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi was dealing with the plea of one Pradhyumansinh Pravinsinh Rathod, who sought quashing of an FIR lodged against him as well as challenged the constitutional validity of Gujarat Land Grabbing (Prohibition) Act 2020.
Hearing counsel for petitioner, CJI Kant remarked, "This kind of composite package coming here to Supreme Court we are not going to entertain. It's a clever move to avoid trial Court, High Court, and straight come here...".
Ultimately, the petitioner was granted interim protection for 2 weeks to enable him to approach the jurisdictional Court as well as liberty to file a fresh writ petition challenging the 2020 Act.
"Having regard to the fact that 2 reliefs cannot be entertained in a writ petition, learned counsel for the petitioner seeks and is permitted to withdraw this petition with liberty to file a fresh writ petition only confining to the vires of Gujarat Land Grabbing (Prohibition) Act 2020. As regards prayer for quashing of FIR and consequential pre-arrest bail, liberty is granted to the petitioner to approach the jurisdictional court. In order to enable the petitioner to approach such court, interim protection against arrest is granted for 2 weeks", the bench ordered.
Case Title: PRADHYUMANSINH PRAVINSINH RATHOD Versus STATE OF GUJARAT AND ORS., W.P.(Crl.) No. 531/2025