Supreme Court Overturns Default Bail in Haldwani Arson Case

The Supreme Court has reversed an order granting default bail to two individuals involved in the Haldwani arson and rioting case. Despite challenges in the investigation, the top court found the high court's decision to grant bail unreasonable, directing the accused to surrender to the trial court within two weeks.

The Supreme Court has annulled a previous decision that allowed default bail to Javed Siddiqui and Arshad Ayub, two accused in the Haldwani arson and rioting case of 2024. The Court criticized the Uttarakhand High Court for unjustly evaluating the investigation's progress.

A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta deemed the high court's evaluation as unreasonable, considering the complexities and the vast scale of offenses involved. The Apex Court upheld that the investigation, pertaining to widespread rioting and use of petrol bombs, was conducted expediently despite significant obstacles.

Deputy Advocate General Jatinder Kumar Sethi represented Uttarakhand in challenging the high court’s January 2025 order. The Supreme Court emphasized the timely entry of a chargesheet by July 2024 and instructed the accused to surrender within two weeks, allowing them to seek regular bail based on the case merits.