LI NETWORK
Supreme Court Bench of Justice Indira Banerjee cautioned courts against mechanically granting bail in heinous offences, saying the seriousness of the charge is a basic consideration before setting an accused free on bail.
Supreme Court set aside a Kerala High Court order bailing out a man accused of stabbing to death a 30-year-old dentist in front of her father in September 2020. The accused had gone absconding for several days before his arrest, the trial court denied him bail, the High Court set him at liberty.
Supreme Court bench of Justice Indira Banerjee said, “The nature of the offence is one of the basic considerations for the grant of bail- more heinous is the crime, the greater is the chance of rejection of the bail, though, however, dependent on the factual matrix of the matter”.
“However, calls for exercise of such a discretion in a judicious manner and not as a matter of course. Order for bail bereft of any cogent reason cannot be sustained,”
“He had attacked the deceased and inflicted very serious stab injury and caused damages to her internal vital organs… the High Court overlooked the materials on record, which prima facie indicate that the respondent (accused) had committed cold-blooded murder of a young lady doctor, as a fall-out of a soured relationship… After committing the crime, the petitioner had absconded and he could be apprehended only on October 6, 2020 on receiving secret information by the investigation agency…”
Justice Indira Banerjee observed, that “while granting bail the court has to keep in mind not only the nature of the accusations, but the severity of the punishment”. Other criteria include “reasonable apprehensions” of influencing witnesses or tampering of evidence