Section 439(2) of the Criminal Procedure Code lays down as under:
“(2) A High Court or Court of Session may direct that any person who has been released on bail under this Chapter be arrested and commit him to custody.”
This means that, legally speaking, the Court of Session has the power to cancel the bail granted to any person even if such bail was granted by the high court, since bail under the relevant Chapter (mentioned in the above sub-section) includes bail granted by the high court too.
Of course, this would be done by the Sessions Court only if the conditions for grant of bail have been violated, since it cannot otherwise overturn the bail granted by high court in an appeal; that can be done only by Supreme Court.
However, even if the Sessions Court may have this power, in practice it would not be done in any case if the bail had initially been granted by the High Court. If for no other reason, then at least by way of judicial discipline, the Sessions Court would almost never do it. In such cases, the Sessions Court may advise the person concerned to approach the High Court (if the High Court had granted bail initially) for cancellation of bail.
Dr. Ashok Dhamija is a New Delhi based Supreme Court Advocate and author of law books. Read more about him by clicking here. List of his Forum Replies. List of his other articles. List of his Quora Answers. List of his YouTube Videos.