Court cites prolonged incarceration, slow trial progress, and CBI’s custody of documents while imposing strict movement and attendance conditions
The Calcutta High Court has granted bail to Suman Hazra in a CBI case after noting that he had remained in custody for about 788 days and that the trial was unlikely to conclude in the near future.
Justice Tirthankar Ghosh, hearing CRM (M) 2219 of 2026, observed that prolonged incarceration and the slow pace of the trial weighed in favour of granting bail. The Court also took note of the fact that a co-accused, Sandip Ghosh, had already been granted bail by the Supreme Court in SLP (Crl.) No. 16465 of 2026 on similar considerations, including detention for more than two years and minimal progress in recording evidence.
During the hearing, counsel for the petitioner argued that the Supreme Court had emphasized the long period of custody and the limited examination of witnesses. It was pointed out that in the related proceedings, only 7 out of 147 proposed witnesses had been examined. The CBI, represented by the Special Public Prosecutor, submitted that 8 witnesses had been examined in the present case and informed the Court that the Supreme Court’s order granting bail to the co-accused would be challenged.
Despite the prosecution’s objections, the High Court held that the petitioner had already spent more than two years in custody and that there was no realistic possibility of the trial reaching its conclusion soon. The Court further observed that the relevant documents were already in the custody of the CBI, which reduced the risk of tampering with evidence.
Addressing the prosecution’s concern that some vulnerable witnesses were yet to be examined, the Court said that such apprehensions could be adequately addressed by imposing stringent bail conditions rather than continuing indefinite custody.
Accordingly, the Court directed that Suman Hazra be released on bail on furnishing a bond of Rs. 20,000 with two sureties of Rs. 10,000 each, one of whom must be local, to the satisfaction of the Special Judge, CBI Court No. 2, Alipore, or the court in charge.
The High Court also imposed strict conditions on the petitioner. He has been directed to remain physically present before the trial court on every date of hearing, not to leave the jurisdiction of KMDA and District Howrah, and to deposit his passport with the trial court before release.
With these directions, the Court allowed the bail application and ordered that the CBI’s report be kept on record.
Bottom Line:
Bail - Prolonged incarceration of more than two years and no likelihood of early conclusion of trial - Bail granted on stringent conditions where documents were in custody of prosecuting agency and apprehension of prosecution regarding vulnerable witnesses could be addressed by imposing restrictions.
Statutory provision(s): Criminal Procedure Code, 1973.
Suman Hazra v. Nil, (Calcutta) : Law Finder Doc id # 3008118
