Medical-ground bail requires supporting medical evidence; High Court to reconsider regular bail on merits after fresh review.

Bail granted on medical grounds was unsustainable where a subsequent Medical Board examination by a public hospital found no evidence of the condition relied on in the bail order and recorded that the accused was stable with no significant medical ailments. On that basis, the medical-ground bail order was set aside. The question of regular bail on merits was left open, and the High Court was directed to reconsider that issue afresh while preserving the parties' contentions.

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Issues: Whether bail granted on medical grounds was sustainable without prior examination by a Medical Board of a public hospital, and whether the matter of regular bail on merits required reconsideration by the High Court.

Analysis: The respondent was enlarged on bail on medical grounds. A subsequent examination by a Medical Board of AIIMS, Raipur, comprising specialists from the relevant streams, found no evidence of the medical condition referred to in the impugned order and recorded that the respondent's condition was stable with no significant medical ailments. In these circumstances, the grant of bail on medical grounds could not be sustained. At the same time, the question whether regular bail should be granted on merits remained open for consideration by the High Court, and the parties' contentions on that aspect were preserved.

Conclusion: The order granting bail on medical grounds was set aside, and the matter was sent back to the High Court for fresh consideration of regular bail on merits.

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