SC Cautions Court against Granting Bail in Heinous offences

What is the News?

The Supreme Court cautioned courts against granting bail in heinous offences. The SC said that the seriousness of the charge is a basic consideration before releasing an accused on bail.

What was the case?

• The Kerala High Court granted bail to a man accused of the murder of a 30-year-old dentist in front of her father.
• The accused had gone absconding for several days before his arrest.

What did the Supreme Court say?

• The Supreme Court set aside the Kerala High Court order of granting bail to the accused.
• The apex court observed that the nature of the offense is one of the basic considerations for the grant of bail. The more heinous the crime is, the greater the chance of rejection of the bail.
• Further, the court said that the power to grant bail under Section 439 of the Cr.P.C is discretionary. The court also stated that such discretion has to be exercised judiciously by courts.
• In this case, the crime of the accused is heinous. Moreover, he could be arrested only after receipt of secret information by the investigation agency. Thus, granting bail was not justified.

SC judge stated

“while granting bail the court has to keep in mind not only the nature of the accusations, but the severity of the punishment”. 

• Other criteria for bail include “reasonable apprehensions” of influencing witnesses or tampering of evidence.

Source: The Hindu