New Delhi: The Supreme Court expressed disappointment on May 17 over the Delhi high court's prolonged delay in deciding a bail application, emphasising the critical importance of timely decisions in matters of personal liberty.

A bench comprising Justices B.R. Gavai and Sandeep Mehta was reviewing a petition from Amandeep Singh Dhall, an accused in the Delhi liquor policy case, whose bail application had been pending for nearly 11 months.

Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, representing Dhall, noted that the application had been adjourned 40 times and was now postponed to July 2024.

"I do not want anything…the judge has adjourned this matter in July. Just have them decide the matter in May...this cannot be that after 40 hearings you do not decide the regular bail," he said, according to LiveLaw.

The Supreme Court requested the high court to resolve the bail application in May before its summer recess, highlighting that extended delays infringe on the fundamental right to liberty.

"In matters concerning the liberty of citizens, every single day counts…keeping the matter pending for regular bail for almost 11 months deprives the petitioner of his valuable right of liberty…we request the high court to decode the bail application prior to vacation," the bench observed in the order.

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