UP govt to Supreme Court: Will restore anticipatory bail provision

The state’s Additional Advocate General Aishwarya Bhatti told the court that the government has taken a decision to re-introduce the provision and a Bill will soon be tabled in Assembly.

The Uttar Pradesh government on Monday assured the Supreme Court that it will soon restore the provision for anticipatory bail which was removed from the state in the wake of the Emergency.

The state’s Additional Advocate General Aishwarya Bhatti told the court that the government has taken a decision to re-introduce the provision and a Bill will soon be tabled in Assembly.

Uttarakhand, which was carved out of Uttar Pradesh in 2010, too does not have the provision.

The court was hearing a PIL by advocate Sanjeev Bhatnagar who prayed that the provision should be available in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand as it is in the rest of the country. Non-existence of the same amounted to denial of the rights guaranteed by the Constitution, he contended.