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Court Can Issue Non-bailable Warrant at Any Stage of Trial

NEW DELHI - The Delhi High Court has ruled that the courts have the absolute power to issue non-bailable warrants (NBWs) at any stage of an investigation into a crime.

The high court passed the order on a petition of one Mrigendra Jalan, who sought the dismissal of warrants issued against him February and April 2008 by a magistrate.

Jalan’s counsel Aman Hingorani said that the magistrate had issued a non-bailable warrant before the completion of the investigation. This amounted to the magistrate holding the accused guilty of a crime without completing the trial.

Additional Public Prosecutor Pawan Sharma, contested this, saying a magistrate was fully empowered to secure the presence of an accused who was avoiding arrest.

High court Justice Kailash Gambhir, in his order, said that the court was empowered to issue warrants against any person who was accused of an offence and against whom an FIR (first information report) has been already been registered.