Subsisting bail order bars re-arrest on a Red Corner notice; travel restrictions cannot be added without court-imposed conditions.

A person already released on bail under a subsisting judicial order in the same crime cannot be re-arrested on the basis of a Red Corner notice issued during investigation. The earlier bail order under Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure imposed no restriction on foreign or prior permission requirement, and the State neither challenged nor sought modification of that order. A magistrate cannot presume or add travel conditions that were not imposed by the superior court, and doing so is an error of law. The rejection of bail on that basis was unsustainable, and liberty had to be restored under the existing bail order.

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Issues: Whether the petitioner could be re-arrested and denied bail on the basis of a Red Corner notice in the same crime despite an earlier order granting bail without any condition restricting foreign , and whether the magistrate could insist on prior permission for travel abroad when no such condition had been imposed by the superior court.

Analysis: The petitioner had already been released on bail by the superior court in the same crime under Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, and that order did not impose any restriction on travel abroad or require prior permission before leaving the country. The State had neither challenged that order nor sought modification by obtaining additional bail conditions. A Red Corner notice issued during investigation in the same crime could not be used to undo the effect of the subsisting judicial bail order or to justify a fresh arrest. The magistrate's view that prior permission was required for foreign travel had no foundation in the earlier bail order and amounted to an error of law.

Conclusion: The re-arrest was unjustified, the rejection of bail was unsustainable, and the petitioner was entitled to be released in terms of the earlier bail order.

Final Conclusion: The petition succeeded and the impugned rejection of bail was set aside, restoring the petitioner's liberty under the existing bail order.

Ratio Decidendi: A person already on bail under a subsisting judicial order cannot be re-arrested in the same case on the basis of an investigative notice, and travel restrictions cannot be presumed or added by the magistrate in the absence of a condition imposed by the superior court.

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