Courts should stay bail orders only in exceptional circumstances: Supreme Court

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday said courts should stay bail orders only in exceptional circumstances.

A bench of Justice Abhay S Oka and Justice Augustine George Masih said so while setting aside an order of the Delhi High Court, which stayed bail to an accused in a money laundering case.

"Though court may have power to grant stay on bail, it must be done only in exceptional circumstances," the bench said.

The top court had earlier said courts should refrain from staying bail orders in a mechanical manner and without giving any reason.

The top court's judgement came on a plea filed by Parvinder Singh Khurana, an accused in a money laundering case, who challenged the Delhi High Court's order of temporarily staying a bail order passed by the trial court.

Khurana was granted bail by the trial court in a PMLA case on June 17 last year, but the HC stayed the order.

The apex court on June 7 stayed the HC order and restored Khurana's bail.