Is new law on bail being drawn up, SC asks Centre

Pushing for objectivity and accountability in the criminal justice system to prevent needless arrests, the Supreme Court has directed the Union government to inform it whether a new law to facilitate the grant of bail is in the works.

- Utkarsh Anand

A bench of justices MM Sundresh and SVN Bhatti referred to its July 2022 judgment in which it had called upon the Centre to consider framing a new law on bail for warding off unnecessary arrests, especially in cases where the maximum punishment under the alleged offence is up to seven years in jail.

"The Union is directed to inform the court as to whether any bail law is in contemplation or under preparation," said the bench in its recent order, which was released on Thursday. It further directed the Centre to inform the court as to whether any assessment has been done to ascertain the requirement of creating more special courts for the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) case in districts with a high pendency of cases. The court gave the Centre eight weeks to respond. Senior advocate Sidharth Luthra assisted the court as amicus curiae.

In its July 2022 judgment, the top court emphasised that India should never become a "police State" where investigating agencies act like vestiges of the colonial era, issuing a slew of directions for the investigating agencies and the subordinate courts on arrests and grant of bail.

"Uniformity and certainty in the decisions of the court are the foundations of judicial dispensation... The Government of India may consider the introduction of a separate enactment in the nature of a Bail Act so as to streamline the grant of bails," the court said at the time while releasing a set of guidelines in the meantime and seeking compliance reports from states and Union territories.