Supreme Court frowns upon prisoners frequently invoking Article 21 to seek bail

The Supreme Court on Tuesday questioned the frequent invocation of fundamental right to life under Article 21 as a ground to claim bail by persons incarcerated in jails [Rohee Tangappan Joseph @ Rohi @ Satish Kalya @ Sir Shekhar Kumar v Central Bureau of Investigation and anr]

A Bench of Justices Bela M Trivedi and Satish Chandra Sharma remarked that grant of bail would depend on facts of each case and there cannot be a straitjacket formula for bail if the person is behind bars after being remanded or convicted by court following due process of law.

Hence, it asked how the fundamental right protecting right to life and liberty can be invoked in a blanket manner to seek bail.

Justice Sharma went on to question the rationale behind citing Article 21 in bail matters and even wondered whether the said Article has been amended.

"I want to understand from lawyers here whether Article 21 has been amended. Everyone keeps citing it saying release me. It has to be as per facts, not some strait-jacket when you are in jail after due process," he remarked.

The observations were made while refusing to interfere with a Bombay High Court order denying bail to a murder convict.

The appeal filed by convict Rohee Joseph arose out of a November 2023 High Court order in the murder of journalist J Dey who was allegedly killed at the behest of gangster Chhota Rajan.

Joseph was convicted by a trial court in 2018 and his challenge to the same has been pending since.

Before the High Court, he sought bail on the ground that he has been behind bars for over 13 years.

But the High Court denied bail to him.

"Even if the applicant/accused No.1 has undergone more than 14 years of imprisonment, this Court needs to be sensitive to the earlier convictions of the accused persons. The applicant/accused is part of a underworld gang and in calculated manner executed the offence in question at the behest of syndicate head Chhota Rajan, who is presently lodged in Tihar jail," the High Court had reasoned.

This led to the appeal before the top court.

The counsel for the accused relied on Article 21 to seek bail.

He argued that mere alleged connection with Chhota Rajan does not justify violation of Article 21 rights when one's criminal appeal against conviction is pending for long.

The counsel for the State government and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) opposed the plea and alleged that the convict had once broken his parole conditions.

"One has to look at criminal antecedents, prior record and all," Justice Trivedi said.

The Bench then proceeded to reject the bail.