Actual custody is required for bail; a production warrant alone does not place the accused in court custody.

Bail under Section 437 and Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure is available only when the accused is arrested, detained, appears before the court, or is otherwise within that court's control. The custody requirement is central because bail is a release from custody, so a court can grant it only when the accused is in its actual custody or physical control. A production warrant under Section 267 is only a direction to produce the accused; it does not by itself create custody of the issuing court unless the accused is actually produced and submits to that court's jurisdiction. The text therefore treats actual custody, not the mere issuance of a warrant, as the decisive condition for bail consideration.

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Issues: Whether a Magistrate can entertain and grant bail to an accused who is not in the custody of that court, and whether issuance of a production warrant under Section 267 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 amounts to custody of the issuing court.

Analysis: Bail under Section 437 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 is available only when the accused is arrested, detained, appears before the court, or is otherwise within the control of that court. The same custody requirement governs Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, because bail is a release from custody and can be ordered only by the court in whose custody the accused is for the time being. A production warrant under Section 267 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 is only a direction to produce the accused and does not itself place the accused in the custody of the issuing court unless he is actually produced before it and submits to its jurisdiction. The authorities relied upon were distinguished or read as not laying down any contrary rule.

Conclusion: The accused was not in the custody of the Faizabad court merely because a production warrant had been issued, and that court could not consider the bail application until actual production or custody was obtained.

Ratio Decidendi: Bail can be granted only by the court having actual custody or physical control over the accused, and a production warrant does not by itself create such custody.

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