Refusal to grant bail is an unjust punishment leading to โprisonisationโ of an accused, who is innocent until proven guilty,ย the Supreme Court has said. File
| Photo Credit: ANI
The Supreme Court has held that the right to bail of an accused cannot be withheld as a punishment irrespective of the nature of the crime.
If the state, prosecution agencies or even courts do not have the wherewithal to protect an accusedโs right to speedy trial, they should not withhold bail on the ground that the alleged crime is serious, a Bench of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Ujjal Bhuyan observed in a recent order.
Refusal to grant bail is an unjust punishment leading to โprisonisationโ of an accused, who is innocent until proven guilty, the apex court reminded.
โIf the state or any prosecuting agency, including the court concerned, has no wherewithal to provide or protect the fundamental right of an accused to have a speedy trial as enshrined under Article 21 of the Constitution then the state or any other prosecuting agency should not oppose the plea for bail on the ground that the crime committed is serious. Article 21 of the Constitution applies irrespective of the nature of the crime,โ the Bench laid down.
The order was based on an appeal filed by Javed Gulam Nabi Shaikh against a Bombay High Court decision refusing him bail in a case under the provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (UAPA).
Rejects NIA request
The top court refused a request made by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to adjourn the matter and decided to give Shaikh his liberty back.
The Bench noted that he has been languishing in prison as an undertrial for the past four years. It noted that the trial court had not even been able so far to proceed to frame charges in the case and the State of Maharashtra and the NIA have a total of 80 witnesses to examine in the case.
โWe wonder by what period of time the trial would ultimately conclude. Howsoever serious a crime may be, an accused has a right to speedy trial as enshrined under the Constitution of India. Over a period of time, the trial courts and the High Courts have forgotten a very well settled principle of law that bail is not to be withheld as a punishment,โ the apex court underscored.
The prosecution case is that Shaikh was apprehended on February 9, 2020 with a bag of counterfeit notes of the denomination of โน2,000. It was alleged that the consignment of the counterfeit notes was smuggled from Pakistan to Mumbai.
