Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court has made it clear that after a chargesheet is filed in a case, the trial courts must first issue a summons to the accused to ensure their presence for trial. If the accused do not respond to summons, then bailable warrants can be issued.

Only when they remain absent even after that should non-bailable warrants (NBWs) be considered. The court stressed that issuing NBWs merely on the basis of police submissions without substantial grounds or evidence is not proper.

The ruling came in response to a petition filed by Chandralekha and Jayaraj of Ragannaguda in Ranga Reddy district.

They had challenged the lower court’s decision rejecting their plea to withdraw the NBWs issued against them during trial proceedings.

Justice N Tukaramji, who heard the petition, examined the record and observed that there were no valid reasons or supporting evidence to justify arresting the accused or remanding them to judicial custody.

He, therefore, directed both petitioners to appear before the trial court on the next date of hearing.

Furthermore, he instructed the lower court to allow their petition for withdrawal of the previously issued NBWs and pass orders accordingly.