JUDGMENT

R. Balasubramanian, J. — The following are the facts which preceded the reference made by the Hon’ble Chief Justice to the Full Bench. Two persons by name Sudhakaran and Palanikumar filed Cri. O.P.(MD) No. 2383/2007 under Section 438 of the Code of Criminal Procedure before the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court for Anticipatory Bail in the event of their arrest in Crime No. 170/2007 on the file of Sivagangai Police Station. A learned Judge of this Court sitting in Madurai Bench granted an order of Anticipatory Bail for a limited period. However the Bar at Madurai appears to have addressed arguments at length before the learned Single Judge that the Court should grant the protection under Section 438 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, if it decides to grant, without limiting the period. Learned Judge, after hearing extensive arguments, came to the conclusion—considering the case law cited by the Bar and the case law taken note of by the learned Judge himself, that there is an apparent conflict in the judgments of the Supreme Court on the coveted issue namely, whether the Court has the power to grant Anticipatory Bail limiting it to a specified period or not ? Therefore