Anticipatory bail and interim protection must be decided promptly; indefinite adjournment after admission is unsatisfactory.

In an anticipatory bail application accompanied by a request for ad interim protection, the Court held that personal liberty required prompt attention and the interim plea could not be left unresolved by an indefinite adjournment after admission. The High Court was expected either to decide the interim request or to fix a specific returnable date for final disposal after allowing the State reasonable time. Because the matter remained pending without a definite date, the applicant was granted interim protection from arrest until the anticipatory bail application was decided, and the High Court was directed to decide the application expeditiously on its own merits without prejudice to that merits determination.

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Issues: Whether the High Court, on an application for anticipatory bail accompanied by a prayer for interim protection, ought to have decided the interim request or fixed a specific returnable date for final disposal, and whether interim protection from arrest was warranted till the anticipatory bail application was decided.

Analysis: An application for anticipatory bail carrying a request for ad interim protection should not be kept in uncertainty by an indefinite adjournment after admission. In a matter touching personal liberty, the Court hearing such an application must deal with the interim prayer one way or the other, or at least post the matter for final disposal on a specific date after giving the State reasonable time. Keeping the matter pending without a definite date, particularly where the applicant faces the risk of arrest, was held to be an unsatisfactory procedure. The Court also clarified that it was not expressing any view on the merits of the anticipatory bail application.

Conclusion: The High Court was directed to decide the anticipatory bail application expeditiously on its own merits, and the applicant was granted interim protection from arrest till such decision.

Ratio Decidendi: In an anticipatory bail matter implicating personal liberty, the interim request must be dealt with promptly and the application cannot be left pending indefinitely after admission without fixing a specific date for disposal.

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