Anticipatory bail is exceptional, warranted where false implication or misuse of liberty is unlikely.

The applicant sought anticipatory bail under Section 482 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, in connection with Crime No. 596/2026, registered at Police Station Beohari, District Shahdol, for an alleged offence under Section 108 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.

The prosecution alleged that the applicant called the deceased to his home and, after she refused, abused and intimidated her; she allegedly died by suicide on 3 August 2026.

The applicant denied abetting the suicide and sought anticipatory bail; the State opposed the application.

This was the applicant’s first application.

1. Whether the applicant was entitled to anticipatory bail under Section 482 of the BNSS in the circumstances alleged.

2. Whether the case warranted the exceptional exercise of the court’s power to grant anticipatory bail, having regard to the nature and gravity of the allegations.

Section 482 of the BNSS provides for a direction granting bail to a person apprehending arrest.

The Court relied on *State of M.P. v. Pradeep Sharma*, (2014) 2 SCC 171, para 14, which discusses the corresponding power under Section 438 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and states that anticipatory bail is an extraordinary power, to be exercised in exceptional cases—such as where the applicant may be falsely implicated or there are reasonable grounds to believe the applicant is unlikely to misuse liberty.

The Court considered the parties’ submissions and the material on record, and noted that the allegations against the applicant were serious.

Applying the principle that anticipatory bail is an extraordinary remedy reserved for exceptional cases, the Court declined to grant relief.

The order does not set out a further fact-specific assessment of the applicant’s alleged conduct or the other factors in the quoted passage.

The order concerned pre-arrest bail and did not determine the applicant’s guilt on the charge under Section 108 of the BNS.