SC says bail is rule, jail exception even in money-laundering cases
This story was originally published at 22:01 IST on 28 August 2024
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NEW DELHI – The Supreme Court today held that the principle "bail is the rule and jail is the exception" applies even to cases under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, and granted bail to Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren's aide Prem Prakash in an illegal mining-related case registered by the Enforcement Directorate.
The court said the principle is simply a paraphrasing of Article 21 of the Constitution, which states that no person shall be deprived of his or her life or personal liberty except according to the procedure established by law. "Liberty of the individual is always a rule and deprivation is the exception," the court said. "Deprivation can only be by procedure established by law, which has to be a valid and reasonable procedure."
The bench of Justice B.R. Gavai and Justice K.V. Viswanathan said Section 45 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, by imposing twin conditions for granting bail, does not rewrite this principle to mean that deprivation is the norm and liberty the exception. All that is required is that in cases where bail is subject to the satisfaction of twin conditions, those conditions must be satisfied.
Further, the judges said that when an accused person is in custody under the money-laundering law, irrespective of the case for which he or she is in custody, any statement by such person under Section 50 of the law to the same investigating agency would be inadmissible as evidence. It would be extremely unsafe to render such statements admissible as such a course of action would be contrary to the canons of fair play and justice, they said. End
Reported by Surya Tripathi
Edited by Rajeev Pai
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