Court cannot deny default bail by fixing stringent conditions that cannot be complied with: Kerala High Court

The Kerala High Court recently held that default bail cannot be denied to an eligible accused person by fixing stringent bail conditions that cannot be complied with by the accused [Vishnu Sajanan v State of Kerala]..Imposing arbitrary and stringent conditions while granting default bail under Section 167(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) violates the fundamental right of the accused to life and liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution of India, the Court said. .Justice PV Kunhikrishnan clarified that while imposing conditions for releasing an accused on default bail, the Court can only impose conditions to ensure that the accused will appear for trial and cooperate with the investigation.“The default bail is a statutory right of an accused. The Court cannot deny statutory bail to an accused by imposing stringent conditions that cannot be complied with by the accused. While. An accused in detention shall be released on bail after the period of detention mentioned in Section 167(2) if he is prepared to furnish bail. This statutory right cannot be circumvented by imposing onerous conditions,” the Court's order stated. .The High Court was considering a petition filed by a man (petitioner) who was arrayed as the first accused in a drug possession case. The prosecution claimed that MDMA was recovered from a place where the petitioner and others were staying. The petitioner was arrested on the spot, presented before the jurisdictional Magistrate, and subsequently remanded to judicial custody.The petitioner, after two unsuccessful bail applications before the Sessions Court, was eventually granted default bail since the investigation was not completed within the statutory sixty-day period.The petitioner, however, challenged two conditions imposed by the trial court for his release on bail. These conditions required the petitioner to have a close relative stand as surety, and also produce original property title deeds as surety, before he could be released on bail.The petitioner submitted that none of his relatives were willing to stand as surety. Further, he argued that he was from a poor background, which made it difficult to comply with the condition to provide original title deeds to property as surety. As such, the petitioner pointed out that he continued to remain in jail, despite being granted bail. .In an order passed on November 29, the High Court allowed the petitioner's plea and set aside the two bail conditions under challenge. "Such arbitrary condition imposed while granting statutory bail amount to infringement of the fundamental right of the detenue under section 21 of the constitution of India. When the petitioner submits before this Court that Condition Nos.(3) and (4) are onerous conditions, in the light of the dictum laid down by the Apex Court, I am of the considered opinion that those conditions are to be lifted. The sureties can be directed to produce tax receipts instead of original title deeds of their property," the High Court said. .The petitioner was represented by advocates Arun Roy and Ashita Ria Merin.The State was represented by public prosecutor MP Prasanth..[Read Order]

Court cannot deny default bail by fixing stringent conditions that cannot be complied with: Kerala High Court

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