Prolonged pretrial jail erodes public trust: SC

Prolonged pretrial incarceration due to delays in trials not only violates an accused person's fundamental rights but also erodes public trust in the judicial system, the Supreme Court emphasised, urging courts across the country to ensure that the process of justice is not derailed by procedural inefficiencies.

- Utkarsh Anand

NEW DELHI:

Stressing that the right to a speedy trial is a fundamental right enshrined in Article 21 of the Constitution, a bench of justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan called for urgent reforms in trial procedures to prevent undue delays that undermine faith in the criminal justice system, even as it reinforced that gravity of an alleged crime alone cannot deprive a person of their liberty for an indefinite period.

Granting bail to a man accused of Naxalite activities after nearly five years of incarceration, the court made a compelling statement on the principle of bail and the necessity of expeditious trials.

"Many times, we have made ourselves very clear that howsoever serious a crime may be, the accused has a fundamental right to a speedy trial as enshrined in Article 21 of the Constitution. We may sound as if laying some guidelines, but time has come to consider this issue of delay and bail in its true and proper perspective," the bench held in its February 14 judgment.