Bail Or Jail?

The inconsistency in the exercise of courts’ discretion in granting bail has often denied the accused their right to liberty and led to an overcrowding of jails. It is time for a separate bail act supported by a massive overhaul of judicial infrastructure

- Kaushik Deka

ARYAN KHAN, THE 23-YEAR-OLD SON OF SUPERSTAR SHAH RUKH KHAN, may think his plight to be miserable. On October 3, he was arrested under the stringent Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, for his alleged ‘involvement in consumption, sale and purchase’ of drugs. Yet, when a special court rejected his plea for bail—17 days after his arrest—his case attracted massive public attention, and the court’s exercise of its discretion became a subject of intense debate. Backed by a strong legal team, Aryan managed to get an urgent hearing in the Bombay High Court on October 26, rare in such cases. There are others who have worse experiences to narrate.

Contrast the fate of Chunni Lal Gaba, the 72-year-old multimillionaire businessman from Punjab. Arrested in 2014 for his alleged involvement in a drug racket, Gaba had to move the Supreme Court this June as his request for hearing his bail plea had been pending in the Punjab & Haryana High Court for nearly 17 months. Shocked at the development, the apex court observed: ‘Non-listing of application for regular bail, irrespective of seriousness or lack thereof, of the offences attributed to the accused, impinges upon the liberty of the person in custody.’

Likewise, comedian Munawar Faruqui, who was arrested for cracking jokes that allegedly hurt religious sentiments, had to be in jail for over a month because the sessions court and Madhya Pradesh High Court rejected his bail pleas. Eventually, the Supreme Court granted him bail, saying that the allegations were ‘vague’ and the police ‘did not follow the procedure’ in arresting him without preliminary investigation.