Source: Supreme Court 

Why in News?

A bench of Justice Abhay S. Oka and Justice AG Masih deleted the bail condition providing that the bail condition shall be executed after six months.

• The Supreme Court held this in the case of Jitendra Paswan v. The State of Bihar.  

What is the Background of Jitendra Paswan v. The State of Bihar Case? 

• The Applicant was implicated in this case under Section 147, 148, 149, 341, 323, 324, 326, 307 and 302 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (IPC).   
• There was a bail granted by the Patna High Court which provided the petitioner shall be enlarged on bail. 
• However, the High Court observed that the order granting bail will become operative only after 6 months. 
• There was an appeal filed against this order.  

What were the Court’s Observations?

• The Supreme Court held that the High Court has strangely held that the order granting bail will become operative only after six months.  
• The Supreme Court allowed the appeal and deleted the words “but after 6 months from today”. 
• Thus, the Court concluded that once an accused is entitled to bail the bail cannot be delayed and doing so would violate Article 21 of the Constitution of India, 1950 (COI).

What is Bail?

About

• Bail, a legal provision within the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (CrPC) and Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS) facilitates release from prison pending trial or appeal upon depositing security. 
• Bailable offences guarantee the right to bail, as per Section 436 of the CrPC, while non-bailable offences grant discretion to courts or designated police officers, as outlined in Section 437. 
• Justice V R Krishna Iyer in the case of State of Rajasthan v. Balchand (1977) held that the basic rule is bail, not jail. It referred to a concept which is ‘Bail is a Right and Jail is an exception”.

Types of Bail:

• Regular Bail: It is a direction given by the Court (any Court within the country) to release a person who is already under arrest and kept in police custody. 
• Interim Bail: Bail granted for a temporary and short period by the Court till the application seeking Anticipatory Bail or Regular Bail is pending before a Court.  
• Anticipatory Bail: It is a legal provision that allows an accused person to apply for bail before being arrested. In India, pre-arrest bail is granted under section 438 of the CrPC It is issued only by the Sessions Court and High Court.

What are the Provisions concerning Bail under Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS)? 

• Chapter 35 of BNSS provides for provisions as to Bail and Bonds.

What are the Conditions that can be Imposed while Granting Bail? 

• Section 437 (3) of CrPC casts an imperative duty on the Court to impose certain conditions on the accused before granting bail. These are: 
  • The accused shall attend court in accordance with the conditions of the bond executed by him. 
  • The accused shall not commit any other offence of a similar nature. 
  • The accused shall not make any inducement, threat or promise to any person acquainted with facts of the case 
  • The accused shall not tamper with the evidence of the case. 
• This provision is reiterated in Section 480 (3) of BNSS.

What are the Case Laws on Conditions that can be Imposed while Granting Bail? 

• Munish Bhasin & Others v. State (Govt. Of NCT of Delhi) (2009):  
  • The Court held that the conditions that are onerous and not justified should not be imposed. 
  • In this case the Court held that the condition of paying maintenance of Rs. 12,500 per month to the wife while granting bail under Section 498A of IPC is onerous and hence should be set aside. 
• Sumit Mehta v. State (NCT of Delhi) (2013):  
  • The Court interpreted the term “any condition” on the grant of bail. 
  • The Court held that the words “any condition” should not be regarded as conferring absolute power on the Court to impose any condition it chooses to impose. 
  • Any condition that has to be imposed as a reasonable condition acceptable in the facts permissible in the circumstance and effective in the pragmatic sense and should not defeat the order of grant of bail.  
• Dataram Singh v. State of Uttar Pradesh (2018):  
  • The conditions for the grant of bail should not be so strict that it becomes incapable of compliance thereby making the grant of bail illusory. 
• Guddan @ Roop Narayan v. State of Rajasthan (2023): 
  • The Supreme Court in this case set aside the order of Rajasthan High Court imposing strict fine of Rs. 1,00,000 along with surety of Rs. 100,000 and two bail bonds of Rs. 50,000 each. 
  • The Supreme Court held that these conditions are excessive and acted as a refusal to grant bail. 
• Aparna Bhatt v. State of Madhya Pradesh (2021): 
  • The Supreme Court set aside the impugned order of the Madhya Pradesh High Court in which bail was granted on the condition that he will tie rakhi to the victim. 
  • The Supreme Court observed that the bail conditions should avoid personal contact between the accused and the victim. 
  • The Court held that the condition should avoid stereotypical remarks.