Sumit Kumar Sharma, D.A.V.(P.G) College, Dehradun
Introduction
Time and again, constantly the Honourable Supreme Court has repeatedly, strongly advocated for the basic rule of law in our criminal justice system - "Bail, not jail"
There are a plethora of S.C Judgments, which reinforce this basic rule again and again with regular frequency. The Apex Court, vide various judgments, stressed on the following tenets:
1. Courts must ensure that they continue to remain the first line of defence against the deprivation of the liberty of citizens.
2. Deprivation of liberty even for a single day is one too many.
3. Courts must always be mindful of the deeper systemic implications of their decisions.
Despite such amplified and clear advisories from the Apex Court, the Lower Courts and very often High Courts suffer from indifference or paralysis in granting bails, resulting in long period of incarceration of suspects, who are forced to suffer every moment of their judicial custody in prisons which are overcrowded and therefore super spreaders of COVID, devoid of medical facilities, lack of basic hygiene conditions and severe malnutrition, resulting in a huge adverse impact on life expectancy What is distinctly alarming is that the lower courts are in the tight grip of a severe fear psychosis, while hearing bail matters of Special Acts such as the PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act)1 . The ED has created a paranoia not amongst the accused, but this paranoia has percolated and frozen the Lower Courts to examine objectively, without fear or favour while meritoriously deciding bail matters in PMLA cases, resulting in long period of captivity of the suspects, who are illegally compelled to undergo pre-trail protracted period of punishment in suffocable prison conditions.
