Keeping keys without order is illegal, Supreme Court orders police to take possession of property

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has expressed strong objection to the police taking possession of immovable property without legal approval and said that this is complete anarchy. The police had retained the keys of the petitioner’s immovable property. Supreme Court Justice C.T. The bench led by Ravikumar said that without legal provision, the police cannot retain possession of the property under any circumstances. This action of the police is illegal. The Supreme Court said that the conditions imposed by the Madhya Pradesh High Court during the bail of the petitioner accused are also unreasonable and rejected those conditions and upheld the bail of the accused.What is the whole matter?
The accused person, resident of Ratlam, Madhya Pradesh, had filed the application. The matter is of 22 April 2024. The complainant had accused the accused of forcibly entering her house and erecting a wall on her property. Due to this construction the road to the complainant’s house was closed. A case was registered against the accused in this matter. Bail application was filed in Madhya Pradesh High Court. The Supreme Court said that it is clear from the facts that when the bail application of the accused was pending in the court, the police had kept the keys of his/her property with themselves and this is illegal.

The Supreme Court rejected the bail conditions set by the High Court. While granting bail, the High Court had put a condition that the police should demolish the wall and recover the cost of demolition from the accused i.e. the petitioner. The High Court had asked the police to hand over the keys of the disputed property to the complainant after the demolition process. The Supreme Court said that the High Court set unreasonable conditions during the bail.

Supreme strictness on unreasonable bail conditions
The Supreme Court has set guidelines for the conditions of bail. Even after getting bail, it often takes time for the prisoners to be released from jail due to non-fulfillment of the bail conditions. The Supreme Court had issued guidelines in this matter, so that this delay could be avoided. The Supreme Court now said that unreasonable conditions should not be set. The arrangement given by the Supreme Court can become an example to ensure the release of the accused after bail.