Bail the rule far too many undertrials are kept in jail for too long
Teesta Setalvad yesterday was granted interim bail by the Supreme Court after having spent more than two months in jail in a case pertaining to alleged fabrication of documents in relation to riots in Gujarat in 2002. Notwithstanding the apex court order, the Gujarat high court will continue to consider her regular bail application. SC’s decision was underpinned by some observations it made earlier. Setalvad has spent over two months in jail without a chargesheet being filed. The offences pertain to alleged forgery and not bodily harm. The offences do not restrain the court from granting bail.India’s jurisprudence on bail is rooted in the Constitution’s Article 21, the right to life and personal liberty. Its importance can be gauged from the fact that the relevant procedures provide for everything from anticipatory bail to statutory bail. Therefore, SC’s approach is guided by the principle that bail is the rule and jail is the exception.
This principle is not followed often enough by other levels of the judiciary. Data till December 2021 show that of 5.54 lakh prisoners, 77% were undertrials. A mere 22% of prisoners had been convicted. Around 95% of undertrials are released on bail but the process is slow, often inhumanely so. GoI data for 2019 showed that almost half of the jailed undertrials had been locked up for more than two years. This is unconscionable.
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