Impermissibility of granting police custody to an accused on bail

Granting police custody remand in respect of an accused person who has already been enlarged on regular bail by a court of competent jurisdiction is legally impermissible so long as the bail order remains in force. Directing an accused on bail to be taken back into police custody for a specified number of days curtails their personal liberty and operates as an indirect cancellation of bail. Criminal jurisprudence does not countenance such indirect mechanisms that nullify or defeat an existing, unchallenged judicial order granting bail. The scheme of procedural law mandates that an order granting protection of bail must be formally dealt with before any custodial direction can be issued. Revisional courts or High Courts cannot grant police remand in a casual or mechanical manner while turning a blind eye to the subsisting bail status of the accused. Thus, an existing bail order acts as a complete legal bar against the grant of police custody remand. (Pogadadabnda Revathi & Anr. v. The State of Telangana | 2026 INSC 75)