The Supreme Court has once again re-stated the proposition that ‘bail is the rule and jail is the exception’, undergoing that this principle has to be complied with even by courts in cases pertaining to charges under sections of the special laws including the UAPA.
I found one benchmark statement when a bench comprising of Justices Abhay S Oka and Augustine George Masih said thus:
“When a case is made for a grant of bail, the courts cannot have hesitation … the allegations of the prosecution may be very serious, but the court’s duty is to consider the case for grant of bail in accordance with the law. ”
The court’s stand has come in the backdrop of hearing a bail application of a retired police constable, Jalaluddin Khan, who is accused under the UAPA. The Supreme Court, unlike the statements of various federal agencies, did not find the evidence provided and decided to release Khan, canceling the decisions of the lower instances.
This ruling reminds me of the 1977 judgment of Justice Krishna Iyer wherein the cumulative principle of the focus of the Indian judicial system, ‘Bail is the rule, Jail is the exception,’ was launched. The position taken by the Supreme Court that has not shifted on this issue is a clear indication that their should a more reasonable and equal proportion when addressing bail in such cases related to national security and anti- terror legislation.
