Allahabad HC Judge Seeks Removal From Bail Roster After SC Calls His Order 'Shocking'

Last Updated:February 13, 2026, 20:58 IST

Justice Pankaj Bhatia of Allahabad High Court requested not to be assigned bail cases after Supreme Court criticised his bail order in a dowry death case.

Allahabad High Court Justice Pankaj Bhatia has requested Chief Justice of India Surya Kant not to put him in the bail roster in future after the Supreme court criticised one of his bail orders in a dowry death case, terming it “one of the most shocking and disappointing orders" it had come across in recent times, Live Law reported.

Earlier this week, the Supreme Court strongly criticised the Allahabad HC justice for granting bail to a man accused of strangling his wife within three months of marriage over dowry demands. Calling the order “one of the most shocking and disappointing," the top court had noted that the high court merely reproduced defence submissions and granted bail solely because the accused had no prior criminal history and had been in jail since 2025.

A bench of Supreme Court Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice KV Viswanathan had allowed an appeal filed by the father of the deceased woman and cancelled the bail granted to the accused husband, Bar&Bench reported.

The case pertains to a dowry death registered at Kotwali Bhinga Police Station in Uttar Pradesh’s Shrawasti district under Sections 85 and 80(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, and Sections 3 and 4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961.

As per the report, the 22-year-old woman was married on March 1, 2025, and died within three months at her husband’s home. As per the FIR, despite payment of Rs 3.5 lakh and other dowry articles, the accused husband and his family demanded a four-wheeler as additional dowry and subjected her to harassment.

She was found dead on April 25, 2025, with injury marks on her neck. The postmortem report stated that the cause of death was asphyxia due to strangulation.

The top court observed that the High Court had merely recorded defence submissions and granted bail on the ground that the accused had no criminal antecedents and had been in custody since April 27, 2025.

“We fail to understand what weighed with the High Court in exercising its discretion in favour of the accused for grant of bail in a very serious crime like dowry death," the Bench remarked.

The apex court emphasised that in serious offences such as dowry death, courts must consider the nature of the crime, the statutory presumption under Section 118 of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, the punishment prescribed under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the marital relationship between the parties, and the post-mortem findings indicating death by strangulation.

Terming the High Court’s order “unsustainable in law" and a “travesty of justice," the Supreme Court directed the accused to surrender immediately before the trial court and be sent to judicial custody.

News india Allahabad HC Judge Seeks Removal From Bail Roster After SC Calls His Order 'Shocking'

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