OBJECTION SUSTAINED

The jurisprudence of arrest and bail under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act deserves to be revisited, and quickly

- JUSTICE MADAN LOKUR

Bail, not jail' is not a slogan, but the manifestation of a right to personal liberty given to an arrested person, flowing out of Article 21 of the Constitution of India. The basis of this is the internationally accepted principle that a person is presumed to be innocent until proven guilty. Unfortunately, certain crimes have led to the introduction of a reverse onus on an accused person with the result that there is no presumption of innocence. Examples of crimes providing for a reverse onus include economic offences, possession of commercial quantities of drugs and terrorist offences.

Historically, economic crimes have always held a special place in India. Conservation of foreign exchange and smuggling activities led to a law authorising the executive to preventively detain a person violating the provisions of the law. The law is draconian and the Supreme Court has delivered several judgments holding the executive to account and ensuring that the procedures for detention are rigorously followed. Wherever the executive fails to adhere to the strict letter of the law and judgments of the courts, the order of preventive detention is quashed. A similar rigorous interpretation is given to the provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, which is also draconian. The message sent out by the courts is that personal liberty is not to be trifled with and in matters of detention, procedural law is as important as substantive law.