In order words, offences other than those carrying the punishment of death or life imprisonment, are bailable. The submission of Counsel for the Applicant that “the punishment of life imprisonment of the offence of rape is not mandatory, it merely means that upon conviction of same, the Court has the discretion to impose any sentence up to life imprisonment unlike the offence of murder where punishment is a mandatory death sentence”, to my mind, is not consistent with the clear and unambiguous provision of Section 99(1) of the CPC as amended. My understanding of that Section as amended is that the legislature has curtailed the scope of the Courts discretion in bail matters. In other words by the amendment the scope the Court has no jurisdiction to grant bail has been widened to include life imprisonment”. In the result, I hold that I have no jurisdiction to grant bail to the Applicant. The application is therefore, hereby, struck out. ...………………………..... Hon. Justice E.A. Amadi Judge 13/6/2010 9