Justice system can't be oblivious to indigent convicts: Supreme Court releases man on bail sans surety

The Supreme Court on Wednesday stressed that the justice system cannot turn a blind eye to convicts who are unable to pay surety for release on bail. (Ramchandra Thangappan Aachari v. State of Maharashtra).A Bench of Justices Hrishikesh Roy, Sudhanshu Dhulia and SVN Bhatti made it clear that it would be a travesty of justice and a violation of Article 21 if convicts cannot get the benefit of bail.While dealing with a plea filed by a child sexual assault convict who was granted bail by the Court in May last year, the Bench noted,"The justice delivery mechanism cannot be oblivious of the plight of the indigent convicts who are unable to provide local surety. For their incapacity to meet the bail terms, the applicant continues to languish in jail notwithstanding the bail order passed in his favour...It would be a travesty of justice if the petitioner is unable to secure the benefit of bail order for his inability to furnish local surety. This will infringe the rights guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution for the person, who continues to be detained."It, thus, proceeded to do away with the need for a local surety imposed by the trial court, to facilitate the man's release from prison..The Bench was hearing an appeal against a June 2022 verdict of the Bombay High Court which had upheld the conviction of the accused.The High Court had held that a reliable, conclusive medical examination report satisfies the presumption of age (of the survivor) under Section 29 of the Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences Act, and there is no second opinion required in such cases. It had, thus, affirmed the ten-year sentence.The top court had issued notice in the matter in March this year, limited to the point of sentence. The following month, it had proceeded to grant bail subject to the trial court's terms and conditions, given that the accused had served half his jail time..Counsel for the accused pointed out that the man continued to languish at the Kolhapur Central Prison, unable to furnish a local surety. Further, the actual custody period had crossed seven years.The apex court, thus, proceeded to grant relief..Advocates Neha Rathi, Pranav Sachdeva, Jatin Bhardwaj, Abhay Nair, Kajal Giri, and Kamal Kishore appeared for the accused.Advocates Abhikalp Pratap Singh, Siddharth Dharmadhikari, Aaditya Aniruddha Pande, Bharat Bagla, Sourav Singh, Aagam Kaur, Aditya Krishna, Preet S Phanse, Yamini Singh, Adarsh Dubey and Kartikey appeared for the State of Maharashtra..[Read order]