The Supreme Court on Thursday expressed displeasure over the Allahabad High Court deferring 27 times the bail plea of an accused in a cheating case of the CBI and granted him the relief.

“How can the high court adjourn the bail hearing for 27 times in a matter related to personal liberty?” a bench comprising Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justice Augustine George Masih asked.

Granting bail to Lakshya Tawar, the top court closed the matter before the Allahabad High Court.

It also issued a notice to the CBI on Tawar's plea, saying the only issue that remained was the repeated adjournments on the matter in the high court.

The bench said the top court normally did not entertain a plea against the adjournments in the hearing of a case.

“In a matter of personal liberty, the high court is not expected to keep the matter pending and adjourn it 27 times,” the CJI said.

The high court on March 20 deferred the hearing on the bail plea and directed the trial court to expedite the judicial process before reconsidering his application.

Tawar is facing charges under various IPC provisions, including Sections 419 (cheating by personation), 420 (cheating), 467 (forgery of valuable security), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 471 (using forged document as genuine), and 120B (criminal conspiracy), in addition to charges under Sections 13(1)(d) and 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The high court noted Tawar’s extensive criminal history, citing 33 prior cases registered against him and directed the CBI to ensure the complainant Sanjay Kumar Yadav’s presence on the scheduled date to avoid further delay.

“The complainant’s statement must be recorded on the fixed date, and the opportunity of cross-examination must also be provided to the accused on the same day,” the high court ordered.

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