Bail is the rule and jail is the exception; courts must grant bail unless compelling reasons exist to deny it.

ORDER :

This Bail Application is filed under Section 483 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita.

2. Petitioner is the accused in Crime No.219 of 2025 of Town North Police Station, Palakkad. The above case is registered against the petitioner alleging offences punishable under Sections 329(3), 126(2), 115(2), 118(1), 190, 110, 189, 191(2) and 191(3) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhitha (for short’BNS’).

3. The prosecution case is that 16.02.2025 at about 01:30 AM, the accused persons who were having enmity towards the injured for the reason that he had earlier questioned consumption of alcohol in the parking area of TT Restaurant, came in a car armed with dangerous weapons like dagger and iron rod formed themselves into an unlawful assembly and accused Nos. 1 and 2 wrongfully restrained the owner of TT restaurant and the defacto complainant, and the 1^st accused in a cut injury on the leg of the injured. The 2^nd accused beat the first informant on his left hand using an iron rod. When a staff of the hotel named Ameer tried to intervene accused Nos.3 to 5 fisted and kicked him. The owner of the shop had fallen down and the 1^st accused using the dagger attempted to cut on his neck which he evaded and if not have evaded he could have sustained serious injuries.

4. Heard counsel for the petitioner and the Public Prosecutor.

5. Counsel appearing for the petitioner submitted that as directed by this Court in Annexure-A2 the petitioner surrendered on 01.04.2025. The counsel submitted that the petitioner is in custody from that date onwards. The counsel submitted that the petitioner is ready to abide any conditions, if this Court grants him bail.

6. Public Prosecutor opposed the bail application. But, the Public Prosecutor submitted that as per the report received by him, no criminal antecedent is alleged against the petitioner.

7. This Court considered the contention of the petitioner and the Public Prosecutor. The petitioner earlier filed an anticipatory bail before this Court as B.A. No. 3583 of 2025. This Court was not inclined to grant anticipatory bail to the petitioner. At that stage, the learned Counsel for the petitioner submitted that the petitioner is ready to surrender before the Investigating OfÏcer. Accordingly, Annexure A-2 order was passed by this Court. Based on Annexure A-2 order, the petitioner surrendered on 01.04.2025. The petitioner is in custody from that day onwards. Considering the facts and circumstances of the case, I think the petitioner can be released on bail after imposing stringent conditions.

8. Moreover, it is a well accepted principle that the bail is the rule and the jail is the exception. The Hon'ble Supreme Court in Chidambaram. P v Directorate of Enforcement [2019 (16) SCALE 870], after considering all the earlier judgments, observed that, the basic jurisprudence relating to bail remains the same inasmuch as the grant of bail is the rule and refusal is the exception so as to ensure that the accused has the opportunity of securing fair trial.

9. Moreover, in Jalaluddin Khan v. Union of India [2024 KHC 6431], the Hon'ble Supreme Court observed that:

“21. Before we part with the Judgment, we must mention here that the Special Court and the High Court did not consider the material in the charge sheet objectively. Perhaps the focus was more on the activities of PFI, and therefore, the appellant's case could not be properly appreciated. When a case is made out for a grant of bail, the Courts should not have any hesitation in granting bail. The allegations of the prosecution may be very serious. But, the duty of the Courts is to consider the case for grant of bail in accordance with the law. "Bail is the rule and jail is an exception" is a settled law. Even in a case like the present case where there are stringent conditions for the grant of bail in the relevant statutes, the same rule holds good with only modification that the bail can be granted if the conditions in the statute are satisfied. The rule also means that once