NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a plea seeking the cancellation of bail granted to a murder accused who, after release on bail, had claimed on a social media video that “money and power can get you anything in this country.”
A Bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath, Augustine George Masih, and Sandeep Mehta dismissed the appeal filed by the complainant challenging the bail order passed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
During the hearing, the apex court remarked that the accused, one Vishal, was merely celebrating his regained personal liberty and dismissed the suggestion that his post demonstrated illicit influence of wealth or clout.
“Alright. It’s an achievement. He gained his liberty, he was celebrating. If he had money and power, he would have never gotten inside. The money was the lawyer’s fee,” the Court orally observed.
The matter arose from an incident that took place in October 2022 over a land dispute regarding the installation of a tin shed in Haryana’s Berla village.
According to the prosecution, the accused struck a woman with a stick (danda) and allegedly dealt an axe blow to the head of one Gajanand, who later succumbed to his injuries. Vishal was arrested on October 28, 2022.
The Additional Sessions Judge rejected his bail plea in February 2024, following which his successive bail applications before the High Court were also turned down four times.
However, on April 23, 2026, the Punjab and Haryana High Court granted Vishal regular bail in his fifth petition.
Justice Rajesh Bhardwaj of the High Court noted that the allegations did not match the postmortem report, as no incised wounds were found on the deceased and the weapon recovered was a stick rather than an axe.
The High Court also held that all material eyewitnesses had already been examined and that Vishal had spent over three years and five months in pre-trial detention with only 8 out of 31 witnesses examined, thereby violating his constitutional right to a speedy trial under Article 21.
Aggrieved by the grant of bail and relying upon the boastful video published by the accused on social media upon his release, the complainant, Rajbala, approached the apex court seeking cancellation of the relief.
The top court declined to interfere with the High Court’s decision, maintaining the petitioner’s liberty.
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