Warrant That Calls For Prompt Execution

According to P R Thakur, a former additional sessions judge at the Tis Hazari court practising at the Delhi High Court, when the court issues a non-bailable bailable warrant, it is an order to the enforcement agency not to release the person on bail and produce him on or before the date when the warrants are returnable.

A CBI officer said Normally, CBI executes arrests orders within three hours, in fact, as promptly as possible.

As soon as the order was pronounced, one of the Rao lawyers contacted Justice Mahajan in the Delhi High Court who had left for home by then. He then contacted Justice Mahajan at home and sought his permission to appear before him at home. Mahajan asked him to come to the High Court instead and himself immediately rushed to the High Court.

The magistrate's court is competent only for committal of the case, i.e. to take congnizance of the CBI chargesheet and frame charges. The trial of the case, after the charges are framed, is done by the sessions court. In Rao's case, it is not clear whether the St Kitts case would be referred to some other judge for actual trial.

Prem Kumar himself has recently been promoted to the rank of a session's judge, although he still functions as the chief metropolitan magistrate.

Therefore, he himself is competent to try the case. It is up to the district judge or the high court to allocate the trial of the case to one of the additional sessions judges.

The options before Rao now are that he can get anticipatory bail from the high court on Monday and fight the case. He can go to Supreme Court in appeal, if the High Court refuses him anticipatory bail.

The order was pronounced by Prem Kumar one hour after the court time. The order was expected on Thursday but was reserved for Friday morning. Yesterday, it was postponed to 2 pm and later to 4 pm, then 4.30 pm and was finally pronounced at about 5.30 pm.

Rao was granted stay on Prem Kumar's order till October 7. K K Tewary, another accused in the same case, has already been given anticipatory bail by Justice Mahajan in the same case till October 7.

Pranab Mukherjee, R K Dhawan, R L Bhatia, S S Ahluwalia, V Narainswami, Sitaram Kesri called on Rao yesterday. Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, a frequent caller at Rao's 9, Motilal Nehru Marg residence, did not contact Rao on phone. Gowda is away in Uttar Pradesh campaigning for assembly elections.