Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Supreme Court has set aside a Madhya Pradesh High Court ruling that ordered release of an accused through a habeas corpus petition.
A bench of Justice Rajesh Bindal and Justice Manmohan passed the order recently, clarifying that any fresh bail request must be considered independently by the trial court, but MPHC’s extraordinary use of habeas corpus could not stand.
As per SC order, the matter involved arrest and custody of Jibrakhan Lal Sahu, booked for cheating and criminal breach of trust in 2021. Bagsewaniyapolice station in Bhopal had registered an FIR against Sahu under Sections 420 and 409 of IPC. He was arrested in December 2023, and a chargesheet was filed in February 2024.
Between January and May 2024, Sahu filed four bail applications before MPHC. All were dismissed, two on merit and two as withdrawn. His daughter, Kusum Sahu, then moved MPHC with a habeas corpus petition, typically meant for illegal detention cases, claiming her father’s custody was unlawful.
MPHC accepted the plea and ordered his release on a Rs 5,000 personal bond. State government challenged this before Supreme Court, which stayed MPHC’s order in July 2025. Despite this, Sahu did not surrender for weeks and appeared only on October25, 2025.
Supreme Court noted MPHC, instead of directing petitioner to appropriate appellate remedies after repeated bail rejections, examined case on merits as if dealing with a bail appeal. The bench stressed habeas corpus cannot be used to override judicial custody ordered by a competent court.
“Custody of an accused in a criminal case registered against him cannot be held to be unlawful, especially when his bail applications have been dismissed,” the bench observed.
