It is a well-settled principle of law that the sine qua non for the grant of pre-arrest bail is the existence of a reasonable apprehension of arrest, not for the legitimate purpose of investigation, but one motivated by mala fide intent or driven by ulterior motives, such as to humiliate, harass, or exact personal vengeance under the cloak of legal process. It necessarily implies that in the absence of any reasonable apprehension of arrest, the prayer of pre-arrest bail becomes legally untenable and is not maintainable, as the foundational ground for invoking the court’s extraordinary discretionary jurisdiction simply does not exist. Once the Investigating Officer stated that the arrest of respondents No.1 and 2 was not required, the proper course for the learned court below was to dispose of the bail application by recording the said stance, rather than dilating upon the merits of the case and proceeding to confirm the pre-arrest bail. In the absence of a reasonable apprehension of arrest, a petition for pre-arrest bail is not maintainable, as where there exists no apprehension of arrest, the question of granting pre- arrest bail does not arise.

2025 LHC 5784