Guidelines for Bail

 FACTS 

The apex Court noted that Section 170 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) is misinterpreted by lower courts. Section 170 of CrPC provides that once the investigation is over and a charge sheet is filed against the accused, the officer in charge of the police station has to forward the accused under custody to a Magistrate. The court also noted that jails are overflooded with undertrial prisoners and lower Courts are reluctant with granting bail, hence the apex Court laid down guidelines for streamlining bail.

 WHAT DID THE COURT SAY? 

The Court classified offences into four different categories for granting bail -

• Offences punishable with imprisonment of 7 years or less not falling in categories B & D.

• Offences punishable with death, imprisonment for life, or imprisonment for more than 7 years.

• Offences punishable under Special Acts containing stringent provisions for bail like NDPS (s.37), PMLA (s.45), UAPA (s.43D(5), Companies Act, 212(6), etc. Economic Offences not covered by Special Acts.

The Apex Court also issued the following guidelines-

• The Government should consider enacting specific legislation dealing with bail.

• The investigating agencies and their officers have to comply with Sections 41 and 41A of the Code and the directions issued by this Court in Arnesh Kumar.

• The courts will have to satisfy themselves on the compliance of Section 41 and 41A of the Code. Any non-compliance would entitle the accused to grant bail.

• While considering the application under Section 88, 170, 204 and 209 of the Code, a bail application need not be compulsorily filed.

• Courts have to comply with the mandate laid down in the judgment of this court in Siddharth vs. State of Uttar Pradesh, 2021.

• The State and Central Governments have to comply with the directions issued by SC with respect to the constitution of special courts.

• The High Courts are directed to look for the undertrial prisoners who are unable to comply with the bail conditions and take appropriate action in light of Section 440 of the Code, for facilitating their release.

• For Sureties mandate of Section 440 of the Code has to be kept in mind.

• Compliance with the mandate of Section 436A of the Code both at the district judiciary level and the High Court as earlier directed by this Court in Bhim Singh, followed by appropriate orders. Section 436A of the Code would apply to the Special Acts also in the absence of any specific provision.

• Bail applications ought to be disposed of within a period of two weeks except if the provisions mandate otherwise, with the exception being an intervening application. Applications for anticipatory bail are expected to be disposed of within a period of six weeks with the exception of any intervening application.

• Factors like the gravity of the offence, the object of the Special Act, and the attending circumstances are a few of the factors to be taken note of, along with the period of the sentence. The Court noted that an economic offence cannot be classified as it differs from case to case. The Court is not advisable on the part of the Court to categorise all the offences into one group and deny bail on that basis.

• All State Governments, Union Territories and High Courts are directed to file affidavits/ status reports within a period of four months.