Stay On Discharge Orders Should Not Be Granted Unless Circumstances Are Exceptional : Supreme Court
Live LawThe Supreme Court on Friday held that High Courts should not ordinarily stay the discharge orders passed by the trial courts in criminal cases. A bench of Justice Abhay Oka and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan delivered its judgment on a plea filed by Sikh leader Sudershan Singh Wazir, challenging the Delhi High Court's order that stayed his discharge in a murder case and directed him to surrender. On November 4, 2024, the Delhi High Court stayed the trial court's discharge order and directed Wazir to surrender, reasoning that his release following the discharge had become invalid due to the stay on the discharge order. Justice Oka termed the High Court's order as “absurd,” emphasizing that the ex parte stay resulted in Wazir facing trial despite his discharge. Additional Solicitor General Rajkumar Bhaskar Thakare argued that the High Court exercised its power under Section 397 read with Section 401 of the CrPC after finding a prima facie case that the discharge order was flawed due to “non-application of mind” and amounted to a “mini-trial.” The victim's counsel argued that the High Court's stay did not necessarily mean that Wazir's trial would proceed and justified the High Court's decision based on its preliminary finding that the discharge order was incorrect.
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