On “Bail Is Norm” Rule, Former Chief Justice UU Lalit Points To A Caveat

Former Chief Justice of India UU Lalit told NDTV today that while it is true that bail is right and jail exception, certain factors should be kept in mind while deciding on bail for arrested people.  Everything has to be done within the ambit of the law, said Justice Lalit, the 49th Chief Justice of India, while speaking at NDTV’s Samvidhan@75 conclave. This, he added, has been the “intention” of the country’s parliament.

There has to be a “balance between individual rights societal expectations and security of the society,” he said. “Our laws maintain that for crimes that carry a jail term of seven years or more, bail cannot be granted readily,” he said. 

The simple explanation is that for example if a rape case accused is granted bail, it could pose a risk to another girl.

There should be space for one to say that the accused is prima facie not guilty. “If you lay such a restriction on a judge, it will not be easy for him to grant bail so readily, he added.  

The discussion came in the backdrop of multiple cases of white collar crime where bail was not granted and the accused had to go to higher courts. In this scenario, the Supreme Court had to point this out.

Several political leaders were also granted bail on this principle after being in jail for months – the recent examples being former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his ex-deputy Manish Sisodia. 

Justice Lalit also expressed reservations about then methods employed while investigating a case, especially during forensic examinations. For example in rape cases if a DNA test can be run on the body fluids of the victim, then the culprit can be caught faster.

“Unfortunately, in our country, such CFSL labs are rare,” he added.