SC slams parties offering to deposit bail amount, later calling it ‘onerous’

The Supreme Court on Monday frowned upon the practice of parties voluntarily offering to deposit substantial amounts of money for bail but later seeking relaxation of “onerous” conditions imposed by higher courts.

Advertisement

“We strongly deprecate this practice. If the offer for monetary deposit had not been made at the outset, the high court may have considered the case on merits and may have granted or may not have granted relief to the petitioner,” a Vacation Bench of Justice KV Viswanathan and Justice N Kotiswar Singh said.

Noting that it was conscious of the rights of an individual under Article 21 of the Constitution, the Bench said it had to be equally conscious of the sanctity of the judicial process.

“There cannot be any dispute that excessive bail is no bail and onerous conditions ought not to be imposed while bail is granted,” the Bench said while dealing with a plea stemming from a Madras High Court order. The top court noted that onerous conditions would depend on the facts and circumstances of individual cases.