Granting bail is a rule whereas incarceration is a exception – Supreme Court
25
Feb
2018
Granting bail is a rule whereas incarnation is a exception – Supreme Court
Dataram Singh V/s State of Uttar Pradesh & Anr. is a judgment wherein the Hon’ble Supreme Court discussed the fundamental postulate of criminal jurisprudence i.e. presumption of innocence which means that a person is believed to be innocent until found guilty. It was further held that the granting bail is the general rule and putting a person in incarnation or behind the bars is an exception, which is also an important facet of our criminal jurisprudence.
In the 5th paragraph of the said judgment the Court said “Human altitude is required to be adopted by a judge, while dealing with an application for demanding a suspect or an accused person to police custody or judicial custody.” The main reasons behind including this were to maintain the human dignity of accused person, in order for the protection of Article 21 of Indian Constitution, and another fact of overcrowding of jails.Many other decisions were relied upon and it was reiterated by the Court in this judgement that the grant of bail is the rule and the jail is a exception.Moreover it was also stated that grant or refusal of bail is entirely within the discretion of the judge hearing the matter and it should be exercised judiciously in a humane manner. Also, the conditions for the grant of bail ought not to be so strict as tobe incapable of compliance, thereby making the grant of bail illusory.