Bail order cannot be stayed after grant on merits where liberty is already protected by strict conditions.

Once bail is granted on merits after applying the statutory twin conditions, suspending its operation for three weeks to facilitate challenge would effectively negate the relief and unduly curtail liberty. The Special Court noted that the Sessions Court has no power to stay its own bail order and that such interference is unwarranted where the accused is already bound by strict bail conditions and no misuse of liberty is shown. The request to stay or suspend the bail order was therefore rejected.

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Issues: Whether the order granting bail could be stayed or suspended for three weeks to enable challenge before the High Court.

Analysis: The bail application had been decided on merits after considering the statutory rigours under the twin conditions for bail. The Court held that once bail had been granted on merits, suspending its operation for a prolonged period would make the order ineffective and unjustifiably curtail the applicant's liberty. It further relied on the view that the Sessions Court does not have power to stay its own order granting bail, and that such interference is not warranted where the accused had already been subjected to strict bail conditions and there was no showing of misuse of liberty.

Conclusion: The request to stay or suspend the bail order was rejected.

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