The Supreme Court has canceled the bail granted by Allahabad High Court to the accused of giving fake law degree. Describing the case of the accused named Mazhar Khan as serious, the court has said that this is not only a case of fraud but also of adversely affecting the justice system. Along with this, the court has issued instructions to all the courts of the country as to what things they must mention in the bail order.
Mazhar Khan himself is accused of obtaining a fake LLB degree. He had degrees like LLB, LLM and Ph.D printed on his visiting card. Besides, he was running an organized gang of supplying fake degrees. A complaint was filed against Mazhar by a lawyer named Zeba Khan.
Mazhar was arrested from Bangalore for the case registered in Maharashtra. Later it came to light that a case was registered against him in Jaunpur, Uttar Pradesh also. Allahabad High Court granted him bail in the case registered in Jaunpur. Zeba Khan reached the Supreme Court against this. He told the court about the seriousness of Mazhar’s crime. It was also told from his side that after coming out of jail, Mazhar is threatening him.
Taking cognizance of all the facts, the bench of Supreme Court Justices Ahsanuddin Amanullah and R Mahadevan ordered the re-custody of the accused. The judges said that the accused had been involved in the preparation and sale of fake educational degrees, especially law degrees, for a long time. This matter is not limited to just a fraud, but it is a serious matter related to the credibility of the legal profession.
Along with this, the court directed that normally the following details must be recorded in the orders passed in bail cases:
- FIR number and its date
- Name of concerned police station
- Sections of law imposed by the investigating agency
- Maximum punishment prescribed for crimes registered in FIR
- Date of arrest and total period spent in custody so far
- Current status of the case
- Details of compliance of formalities related to legal process
- criminal record of the accused
- Information about previously filed bail applications and their status
The Supreme Court has said that recording such details will make the bail order more clear, transparent and equitable.
