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Supreme Court Flags Rising Against Bail Orders, Urges Focus on Convictions Over Opposing Bail
In a stinging critique of the current state of criminal justice administration, the has expressed grave concern over the escalating number of ) challenging bail orders. A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi, and Justice V Mohana highlighted that public prosecutors are excessively investing time in opposing bail and seeking cancellations, rather than dedicating their energies to ensuring convictions. This, the Court observed, has contributed to alarmingly low and a ballooning population of . The remarks came as the bench dismissed petitions by the and the seeking cancellation of bail granted to Chaitanya Baghel, son of former Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, in the alleged Chhattisgarh liquor scam, while expunging certain adverse remarks made by the against the prosecution.
A Troubling Trend: Bail Appeals Clogging the Supreme Court
The Court’s observations cut to the heart of a crisis that has been simmering for decades. Justice Bagchi pointedly noted that the Supreme Court’s docket is now flooded with interlocutory bail matters. “Today, every bench has not less than 10 against ,” he said, adding that the “number of have burgeoned in the last couple of decades.” The judge underlined that this trend detracts from the court’s core constitutional role. “We have developed an interesting jurisprudence—the … that not merit review, but a to test liberty,” he remarked, questioning whether legal craftsmanship in a bail order should become the sole test to deprive a person of liberty.
The bench was unequivocal that bail orders should ordinarily rest with the High Courts. Justice Bagchi recalled that in the 1980s, Justice P.N. Bhagwati had emphasised that matters of bail need not travel to the apex court. The court’s censure was directed not at the accused but at a system where “if a prosecutor and an investigator invest so much on , his ultimate duty to procure a conviction is lessened.”
Prosecutors’ Priorities: Convictions Over Custody
Justice Bagchi drew a direct link between the prosecutorial obsession with and plummeting . He highlighted that in India have fallen to around 40–50 per cent, while nearly 73 per cent of prisoners are undertrials. “Not less than one-third of those undertrials are acquitted. And mind you, these are not always . They are acquittals because the investigator slipped, the prosecutor failed,” the judge observed. This misplaced accountability, he argued, allows prosecutors to justify continued while absolving themselves of the higher standard of a .
The solicitor general and additional solicitor general appearing for the state and the ED agreed in principle that prosecutors must strike a balance, but they expressed concern that legally flawed bail orders could be cited as precedents. Justice Bagchi responded that the court would clarify that no would attach to such orders. However, he remained firm that cannot hinge solely on the “ of an order.”
The Lengthy Bail Order Conundrum
Adding another layer to the crisis, the court took aim at the ballooning length of bail orders, particularly in cases under the and the . “What we have seen… 40-page bail orders in PMLA cases, 50-page bail orders in UAPA cases… why?” Justice Bagchi asked, noting that judges’ precious time was being disproportionately consumed. explained that judges often write lengthy orders because bail decisions are cited in subsequent cases under the .
CJI Surya Kant acknowledged that the Supreme Court itself bore partial responsibility for this trend. “We are partly responsible because whenever a short order is passed, we interfere,” he said, leading to judges writing extensively to pre-empt appellate scrutiny. concurred that a bail order “need not be an article for a law review,” but must still contain adequate reasons. The exchange underscored a systemic loop where excessive detail is fuelled by fear of reversal, clogging both high courts and the apex court.
High Courts Overburdened, Time Wasted
The hearing also brought into focus the acute delays in hearing bail applications at the high court level. CJI Kant referred to a case from a day earlier where an advocate had remained in custody because his bail application had not been decided by the high court for over two years. “We can visualise what must be happening,” he remarked. pointed to the , where “passover means for the next week,” as 300 bail applications might be listed in a single day. The CJI’s response acknowledged the strain: “That High Court is an overburdened High Court… the amount of work the judges are doing is remarkable.”
This judicial acknowledgment of systemic delays underscores why bail appeals reach the Supreme Court—a product of both staggering pendency and a culture of prolonged detention.
Liberty and Correctness: A Delicate Balance
In a defining statement, Justice Bagchi articulated the court’s restrained approach under . “Under Article 136, we are not so concerned with the correctness of an order. We are concerned with the balance of liberty against ,” he said. The judge stressed that even if a bail order is legally unsound, the require a deeper inquiry: “Notwithstanding the illegality of an order, whether the require ?” He concluded that in the instant case, continuing the accused’s liberty would not offend the , and therefore, no interference was warranted.
This reasoning echoes the landmark decision in , which Justice Bagchi personally complimented as having “created an avenue for release under , in light of the .” lamented that despite the pathbreaking verdict, some high courts continue to distinguish it, forcing litigants to struggle even before the Supreme Court.
Implications for Criminal Justice
The court’s observations are a clarion call for a systemic overhaul. By demanding that prosecutors shift focus from detention to conviction, the bench has spotlighted the hollow core of a criminal justice machinery that often prioritises custody over guilt determination. With over two-thirds of India’s prison population being undertrials, the economic and human cost is staggering. The court’s reiteration that bail jurisdiction should ideally rest with high courts may reduce the Supreme Court’s burden but will require high courts to decide bail matters expeditiously and with robust reasoning, avoiding the trap of verbosity.
The decision also serves as a restraint on the exercise of Article 136 jurisdiction, signalling that the apex court will not function as a routine appellate body for bail orders. This could embolden high courts and lower benches to pass more decisive bail orders, confident that the Supreme Court will not second-guess every legal nuance.
Conclusion
The Supreme Court’s rebuke against the rising tide of bail appeals is a timely alarm for a justice system struggling under its own weight. By urging prosecutors to reclaim their primary duty—securing convictions—and by reaffirming the primacy of liberty under , the bench has set a course correction in motion. The message is clear and unvarnished: incarceration without trial is not justice, and the path to a fair system lies not in opposing bail but in delivering verdicts.
