The Supreme Court comments that the prosecuting agency must provide a speedy trial or grant bail.

The Supreme Court, this week, ruling reiterated its earlier directive on speedy trials in criminal cases. The court says that none should oppose a plea for bail on the ground that the charges were of a serious nature. The ground for the above, says the court, is

• If a state or any prosecuting agency, including a court, has no ability to provide a speedy trial to an accused.
• The court upholds the principle that an accused person is considered innocent until proven guilty, irrespective of the severity of the penal law.
• “Bail is not to be withheld as a punishment”.
• The court says the requirements for bail are to secure the attendance of the prisoner.

The court included these comments in a 12-page bail order in a terror case by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

The ruling of the court emphasises the following:

It is the right of every accused and a facet of Article 21 of the Constitution, which entitles every citizen to live with dignity.

This right is available to a citizen irrespective of his or her status and applied in every case notwithstanding the nature of the crime.

  LEARNING FROM HOME/ WITHOUT CLASSES/BASICS

Bail bond , in law, means the release from prison of a person awaiting trial or an appeal. He deposits security to ensure his submission at the required time to legal authority. The concept of bail is a necessary implication of Article 21 of the Constitution of India.
 Chapter-XXXIII (Section 436 to 450) of the Criminal Procedure Code deals with various provisions for bail. BNS replaces it.

The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), the Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA), passed in Parliament last December, replaced the Indian Penal Code (IPC), 1860, the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), 1973, and the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 respectively.

The new laws comes into effect on Monday (July 1).

The CrPC allows bail for an accused detained for half the maximum imprisonment for the offense.   The BNSS denies this facility for anyone facing multiple charges.

The BNSS retains this provision and adds that first-time offenders get bail after serving one-third of the maximum sentence.  However, it adds that this provision will not apply to: (i) offences punishable by life imprisonment, and (ii) where an investigation, inquiry or trial in more than one offence or in multiple cases are pending.  Since chargesheets often list multiple offences, this may make many undertrial prisoners ineligible for mandatory bail.

BAIL

Nearly 80 per cent of the prisoners in Indian jails are undertrials .  There are over 6.1 lakh prisoners in our country and around 1400 prisons. Most of these prisoners belong to the most vulnerable sections of our society. Such arbitrary denial, guaranteed under Article 21, of personal liberty is directly in contradiction to the principles of natural justice and due process of law.

The Doctrine of Due Process 

Law prohibits the state from taking actions that shall deprive an individual from their rights to safety, liberty or life.

Procedure established by law:  

It states that a law lawfully enacted is valid, even if it violates justice and equitable ideals.

Corresponding Section Table of BNSS with Repealed Act