The court reaffirmed that bail is the rule and jail is the exception, emphasizing the necessity for justification in the arrest of individuals.

This Bail Application is filed under Section 482 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita .

2. Petitioners are accused Nos.1 and 4 in Crime No.1236/2024 of Cantonment Police Station, Thiruvananthapuram. The above case is registered against the petitioners and others alleging offences punishable under Sections 296 (b), 115(2), 118(1), 126(2), 351(2) and 3(5) of the BNS and Sections 92 (a) and 92(b) of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 .

3. The prosecution case is that the petitioners and other accused are students of University College, Thiruvananthapuram and they are workers of Students Federation of India. It is alleged that with intention to assault and humiliate the defacto complainant and his friends, accused Nos. 1 to 3 taken the defacto complainant to the union room and the 1^st accused abused the defacto complainant and humiliated him by calling his disability. It is further alleged that the 1^st accused assaulted the defacto complainant. According to the prosecution, accused Nos.1, 3 and 4 assaulted the defacto complainant. There is specific allegation against the petitioners, who are accused Nos.1 and 4.

4. Heard the learned counsel appearing for the petitioners and the learned Public Prosecutor.

5. Counsel for the petitioners submitted that there is no specific allegation against the petitioners who are accused Nos.1 and 4. The counsel submitted that the petitioners are ready to abide any conditions if this Court grant them bail.

6. The Public Prosecutor opposed the bail application.

7. This Court considered the contentions of the petitioners and the Public Prosecutor. It is true that the allegation against the petitioners are very serious. But the petitioners and the victim are students studying in a college. Considering the facts and circumstances of the case, I think bail can be granted to the petitioners 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. Recently the Apex Court in Siddharth v State of Uttar Pradesh and Another [ 2021(5)KHC 353 ] considered the point in detail. The relevant paragraph of the above judgment is extracted hereunder.

“12. We may note that personal liberty is an important aspect of our constitutional mandate. The occasion to arrest an accused during investigation arises when custodial investigation becomes necessary or it is a heinous crime or where there is a possibility of influencing the witnesses or accused may abscond. Merely because an arrest can be made because it is lawful does not mandate that arrest must be made. A distinction must be made between the existence of the power to arrest and the justification for exercise of it. ( Joginder Kumar v. State of UP and Others ( 1994 KHC 189 : (1994) 4 SCC 260: 1994 (1) KLT 919: 1994 (2) KLJ 97: AIR 1994 SC 1349: 1994 CriLJ 1981)) If arrest is made routine, it can cause incalculable harm to the reputation and self-esteem of a person. If the Investigating Officer has no reason to believe that the accused will abscond or disobey summons and has, in fact, throughout cooperated with the investigation we fail to appreciate why there should be a compulsion on the officer to arrest the accused.”

10. In Manish Sisodia v. Central Bureau of Investigation [2023 KHC 6961] , the Apex Court observed that even if the allegation is one of grave economic offence, it is not a rule that bail should be denied in every case.

11. Considering the dictum laid down in the above decision and considering the facts and circumstances of this case, this Bail Application is allowed with the following di