IMPORTANT POINT
The conditions imposed while granting bail should not be too onerous or incapable of performance, and the insistence on separate sureties for each case and court fees for petitions filed by accused in custody was opposed to law.

ORDER :

The principle that conditions imposed while granting bail cannot be too onerous or incapable of performance rendering the bail granted illusory and even redundant, is elementary and needs no restatement. However, instances are numerous where the trial courts impose conditions that make the liberty ordered chimerical. This case indicates the hardships of an accused involved in numerous cases.

2. Petitioner is an accused before different police stations in different districts in Kerala, alleging offences punishable under sections 406 and 420 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 apart from offences under Section 21 of the Banning of Unregulated Deposit Act, 2019. As many as 1726 crimes have already been registered against him in different districts. Petitioner was taken into custody on 10.10.2022. Though petitioner is eligible to be released on bail, either by directions of the court or by statutory bail, he has not been able to enjoy his liberty due to his inability to produce sureties to the satisfaction of the different courts.

3. Sri. C.S. Manu, learned Counsel for the petitioner submitted that some of the courts are insisting on different sureties to be furnished for each case and considering the large number of cases registered against the petitioner, it is impossible for him to obtain or produce different sureties. It was submitted that some of the Courts insists on separate sureties to be provided for more than a particular number of cases. Specific reference is made to the view expressed by a Court at Kollam, which had refused to accept the same sureties for more than 20 cases. Learned Counsel also submitted that some courts are even insisting on court fee to be paid for all applications filed by the petitioner.

4. Sri. Ashi M.C., learned Public Prosecutor pointed out that petitioner has not produced any order refusing to accept the sureties, and therefore, the reliefs now sought are based on assumptions.

5. I have considered the rival contentions. Though the contention raised by the Prosecutor has force, considering the importance of the issue the said technical objection cannot stand in the way of this Court considering the issues raised.

6. Orders for release of an accused on bail cannot be fustrated by the conditions imposed or the bonds directed to be furnished. Section 440 of the Cr.P.C. contemplates that the amount of every bond shall be fixed with regard to the circumstances of each case, and the same shall not be excessive. Section 441 Cr.P.C. lays down the nature and contents of the bail bonds to be executed by the accused and sureties before a person is released on bail. The purpose of having one or more sureties is to ensure that the accused will appear for trial. Section 443 Cr.P.C. takes care of the situation where the sureties provided are found to be insufficient at a later point of time or when a mistake or fraud is committed.

7. As mentioned in the preceding paragraph, insisting on sureties and executing a bail bond is only to secure the presence of the accused during trial. The surety is not a person who can be called upon to guarantee the sum of money involved in the crime. The surety only guarantees the presence of the accused during trial and not for any money due from the accused. Sometimes a surety without any property can, by virtue of his respectability in society, be a better surety than one with immovable property. Therefore, it is not wholly prudent to correlate the quantum involved in the crime with the surety bond or fix a particular number of cases for a particular surety or to restrict a surety to stand as a guarantee only for a particular type of cases.

8. In cases where there are many crimes registered against an accused, this Court has come across a tendency on the part of the court granting bail to insist on furnishing separate sureties or to furnish bonds commensurate with the quantum involved in the criminal case. Insistence on the aforesaid two conditions is not based on any legally tena