NEW DELHI, 27 Feb: The liberty of a citizen is of paramount importance and not deciding a matter pertaining to it expeditiously will deprive a person of the precious right guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution, the Supreme Court has said.
Observing that Article 21, which deals with protection of life and personal liberty, is the “soul” of the Constitution, the apex court recently said that it has come across various matters from the Bombay High Court where bail or anticipatory bail applications are not being decided expeditiously.
“We have also come across numerous matters wherein the judges are not deciding the matter on merits but find an excuse
to shunt the case on different grounds,” a bench of Justices B.R Gavai and Sandeep Mehta said in a 16 February order.
“Needless to state that Article 21 of the Constitution of India is the soul of the Constitution, as the liberty of a citizen is of paramount importance,” the bench said.
“Not deciding the matter pertaining to liberty of a citizen expeditiously and shunting away the matter on one or the other ground would deprive the party of their precious right guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution of India,” it said. (PTI)
