- How often have we heard about bail, not jail should be the guiding mantra for the judiciary whilst adjudicating litigations unless the perpetrators are being arrested for heinous crimes? Unfortunately, what is practiced in reality is quite opposite to this maxim as thousands of undertrials continue to languish in jails for want of judicial recourse and/or relief, including a timely grant of bails. The judiciary time and again is found wanting in upholding this basic premise of justice leaving scores of hopeless individuals at the mercy of some divine intervention hoping for speedy relief. Welcomingly, the Supreme Court has suggested to the Union Government the necessity of having in place comprehensive bail legislation on the lines of the UK Bail Act.
PC: Judicial Test Series
- As statistics reveal, around 70% of the prison population are undertrials, most of them poor and therefore unable to secure monetary bail. Let us look into some of the bothersome issues surrounding the matter. The SC took note of the Criminal Procedure Code’s colonial biases that continue to this day. Note that police are quick to arrest citizens, and this places poor and/or poorly educated citizens at a huge disadvantage as they are unable to take advantage of the legal system, unlike those with education and affluence as well as influence. There is a strong belief in the country that the high and mighty always as a way to circumvent the judicial system. Needless to mention, only a progressive bail reform can blunt this all-pervasive inequity.
- For the uninitiated, provisions related to arrest and interrogation, issue of warrants and summons, execution of bonds and sureties, powers of police, and others, are dispersed across CrPC and various binding SC guidelines in the current times. Precisely for this reason, a law collating these in one place can check irritatingly prevalent arbitrariness to a great extent. However, a problem, which SC notes too, is the attitude of judicial officers. The SC wondered whether the low rate of conviction tends to make judges adopt a negative attitude towards bail. It read out loud that courts tend to think that the possibility of a conviction is nearer to rarity, bail applications will have to be decided strictly, contrary to legal principles.
PC: AMAN SAREEN
- Of course, this is a candid admission of systemic failure. Instead of a punitive approach to bail, SC has now directed that bail applications should be disposed of within two weeks in the normal course. An absolutely relevant, timely, and reasonable diktat indeed. We know how bail applications are kept pending for months on. Thus, unnecessary arrest coupled with no bail is a double whammy. Inaction on bail happens in high courts too. Appeals by the convicted are pending for decades in some HCs. They deserve bail if appeals are delayed for no fault of theirs. Yes, disciplinary action against errant officers – in police, judiciary, or executive – may produce salutary changes. As such, quick bail is a good corrective against unnecessary arrests.
