To put it differently, if the trial of a person accused of an
offence which is triable by a Sessions Court is not concluded
within any specified time frame, such a person cannot seek for
bail. In other words, in respect of the trial of persons accused of
committing offences triable by a Sessions court, the length of
the trial would have no bearing at all. Even if the trial is not
concluded for a reasonably long period of time, the accused
cannot seek for the grant of bail in the same manner as an
accused who is facing a trial of offences which are triable only
by the Magistrate. This clear distinction made by the statute in
respect of offences triable by the Sessions and by the Magistrate
would only indicate that no accused can have a right to demand
that he be released on bail because there is a delay in the
conduct of his trial. If read in this context, the Proviso under
Section 346(2) would lose all its relevance and no accused, who
is accused of committing an offence which is exclusive trial by
Sessions Court, can demand that he be remanded only to a
period below 15 days. {Para 127}
128. We may hasten to add that this does not mean that the
Sessions Court has the discretion to conduct the trial a leisurely
pace. The general provision relating to inquiries and trials which
mandate trial to be conducted on a day-to-day basis will have to
be adhered to and reasons will have to be assigned, if the matter
is being adjourned beyond the following day. This rigor would
always remain, but at the same time, the non-adherence to this
requirement of conducting a trial on a day-to-day basis would
not transform into a right for the accused to contend that his
detention or remand to custody is illegal and that he should be
released on bail forthwith.
IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD
R/SPECIAL CRIMINAL APPLICATION (HABEAS CORPUS) NO. 15962 of 2025
VINODBHAI TILAKDHARI TIWARI Vs STATE OF GUJARAT & ORS.
CORAM:HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE N.S.SANJAY GOWDA
and HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE D. M. VYAS
(PER : HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE N.S.SANJAY GOWDA)
Citation: 2026:GUJHC:2986-DB
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