Illness, gender no ground to grant bail: Gurugram court

Saurabh Malik

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Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 2

In a significant order liable to change the way relief is sought on the basis of gender or health, a Gurugram court has ruled that illness or womanhood of an accused was in itself no ground to grant bail. Other factors were also required to be taken into consideration.

“If an accused is sick or a woman, it would not, ipso facto, give one right to get bail as other relevant factors are also to be considered to ensure that real justice is done,” Additional District and Sessions Judge Phalit Sharma ruled, while taking up a matter pertaining to the Companies Act.

‘Other factors vital for real justice’

Taking up a matter pertaining to the Companies Act, Additional District and Sessions Judge in a Gurugram court, Phalit Sharma, ruled that if an accused was sick or a woman, it would not, ipso facto, give one right to get bail as other relevant factors were also to be considered to ensure that real justice was done.

The Judge was hearing a bail petition filed against the State of Haryana by Priyanka Modi in an alleged Rs 4,000-crore fraud matter. Among other things, her counsel submitted that the applicant-accused had a six-year-old child to look after as a majority of her family members, including husband and father, were in custody.

The Judge asserted the court could not discard the plea of childcare and that the applicant-accused was a woman. But, at the same time, this kind of plea alone would not entitle her to get regular bail.

Judge Sharma added that an applicant did not deserve discretionary relief of bail from the court, when he/she committed offences not only having adverse effect on an individual, but also society at large. It included serious fraud cases where innocent people were made victims due to fraudulent transactions, acts of luring or propaganda to let them believe they could become kings in a day. It also included frauds played with banks to get loans based on the concealment of facts and on the basis of fabricated documents.

Whether the person was a man or a woman, sick or healthy, was inconsequential. Such persons, irrespective of sex or health conditions, did not deserve relief, until and unless special circumstances existed for the court to decide otherwise. An exception was child given protection under the law because of age.