New Delhi, Feb 2 (IANS): Observing that bail matters ought to be decided as expeditiously as possible, the Supreme Court has issued a notice on a plea seeking bail despite the pendency of the matter before the High Court.

A bench of Justices B. R. Gavai and Sanjay Karol said that it could have disposed of the petition filed before the apex court by remanding the matter to the High Court and requesting it to decide the bail application expeditiously.

"However, taking into consideration the fact that the petitioner has been incarcerated in jail for a period of almost eight years, we are inclined to consider the request of the petitioner in this Court itself, despite the pendency of the matter before the High Court," the bench said.

The petitioner has approached the apex court with a grievance that his application for grant of bail is pending for more than six months before the Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court and the same is not being decided on merits.

Deprecating the speed at which the High Court is dealing in the matter pertaining to personal liberty of a citizen, the Supreme Court said that the bail matters ought to be decided as expeditiously as possible and issued notice returnable on February 13.