The Supreme Court (SC) while dealing with the issue of whether the trial court is barred from exempting personal appearance of the accused under Section 205 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (Code) prior to obtaining bail has held that, such a power to grant exemption should not be read in a restrictive manner so as to be exercised only after accused has been granted bail. The SC further held that when Code is silent on certain procedures “criminal court must act on the principle, that every procedure which is just and fair, is understood as permissible, till it is shown to be expressly or impliedly prohibited by law”.
