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High-profile accused locked up in prisons with no bail in sight now have a reason to cheer. The Supreme Court on Tuesday decided to examine whether bail as a matter of right should be an exception in high-profile cases.
The matter was taken up by a bench of Justices Altamas Kabir, SS Nijjar and J Chelameswar after their attention was brought to this peculiar trend noted among trial courts denying bail in high-profile cases as a matter of routine.
Hearing the bail pleas of two close associates of former Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda in relation to a case of disproportionate assets against the latter, the bench decided to settle this principle of law and posted the question for consideration on January 18 next year.
It was pointed out by senior advocates Ranjit Kumar and Mukul Rohatgi appearing for the accused Vikas Kumar Sinha and Manoj Punamiya that the trial courts tend to go by the media frenzy surrounding a case to deny bail.
Hinting at the 2G scam, the Satyam scam and Commonwealth Games scam, all pending consideration with courts at various levels, Kumar said, “Questions are asked in the subordinate courts based on media reports.” Under Section 436A of the Criminal Procedure Code, he added, except for cases attracting death sentence, a prisoner is entitled for bail on undergoing half the period of maximum punishment for that offence. Rohatgi who seconded this view urged the Court to lay down the law on bail in view of these recent aberrations.
The matter was taken up by a bench of Justices Altamas Kabir, SS Nijjar and J Chelameswar after their attention was brought to this peculiar trend noted among trial courts denying bail in high-profile cases as a matter of routine.
Hearing the bail pleas of two close associates of former Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda in relation to a case of disproportionate assets against the latter, the bench decided to settle this principle of law and posted the question for consideration on January 18 next year.
It was pointed out by senior advocates Ranjit Kumar and Mukul Rohatgi appearing for the accused Vikas Kumar Sinha and Manoj Punamiya that the trial courts tend to go by the media frenzy surrounding a case to deny bail.
Hinting at the 2G scam, the Satyam scam and Commonwealth Games scam, all pending consideration with courts at various levels, Kumar said, “Questions are asked in the subordinate courts based on media reports.” Under Section 436A of the Criminal Procedure Code, he added, except for cases attracting death sentence, a prisoner is entitled for bail on undergoing half the period of maximum punishment for that offence. Rohatgi who seconded this view urged the Court to lay down the law on bail in view of these recent aberrations.
