BAIL - POLITY
News: Bail
orders should not be too long or come too late: Supreme Court
What's in the news?
● The
Supreme Court has held that orders of courts in bail cases should neither be
too long and elaborate nor come too late as both violate the constitutional
mandate of personal liberty.
Bail:
● Bail
is the conditional release of a person
held under legal custody in matters which are yet to be pronounced by the
Court, by undertaking a promise to appear in the Court as and when required.
Types of Bails in India:
Regular bail:
● The
court orders the release of a person who is under arrest, from police custody
after paying the amount as bail money.
● An
accused can apply for regular bail under Section
437 and 439 of CrPC.
Interim bail:
● This
is a direct order by the court to provide temporary
and short-term bail to the accused until his regular or anticipatory bail
application is pending before the court.
Anticipatory bail:
● This
is a direct order of Sessions or High Court to provide pre-arrest bail to an accused of a crime.
● When
the person has an apprehension of being arrested, the person can apply for
anticipatory bail.
Laws governing Bail:
● The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973
governs the terms of the bail.
● Section
2 (a) of the CrPC,1973 defines the phrases “bailable offense” and “non-bailable
offense” even though the Act does not define “bail” expressly.
Bailable and Non-bailable offences:
Bailable offences:
● Section
2(a) of CrPC categorizes a bailable offence.
● It
means that an offence that is classified as bailable in the First Schedule of
the Code, or which is classified as bailable under any other law.
● An
accused can claim bail as a matter of
right if he is accused of committing a bailable offence.
● Under
Section 436 of CrPC 1973, a person accused of a bailable offence at any time
while under arrest without a warrant
and at any stage of the proceedings has the right to be released on bail.
Non-bailable offences:
● A
non-bailable offence is defined as any offence which is not a bailable offence.
● A
person accused of a non-bailable offence cannot
claim bail as a right.
● A
person accused of non-bailable offences can be granted bail provided the
accused does not qualify the following conditions:
○ There
are reasonable grounds to believe that he has committed an offence punishable with death penalty or life imprisonment.
○ The
accused has committed a cognizable offence and he had been previously convicted
of an offence punishable with death,
imprisonment for life or imprisonment of seven years or more or if the accused
been convicted on two or more instances of a cognizable and non-bailable
offence.