BENGALURU: Former Supreme Court judge Justice Abhay S Oka said on Friday that every person accused of a crime has the right to bail and pre-trial detention is essentially a punishment for something that has not been proved.
Delivering a lecture on “Why Personal Liberty is Important in Bail Jurisprudence” at Manipal Law School of the Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), he said personal liberty must remain central to bail decisions in India’s criminal justice system. Prolonged pre-trial detention is increasingly being used as a tool of arbitrary punishment, he added.
Justice Oka said presumption of innocence remains a cornerstone of criminal law and that denial of bail should never function as a form of pre-trial punishment. Bail decisions must be examined through the prism of Articles 14, 19, and 21 of the Constitution rather than relying solely on statutory provisions.
He said judges must remember that the Constitution protects every citizen’s freedom and that this protection should guide bail decisions. Many undertrial prisoners spend years in jail waiting for their trial to begin. Such prolonged detention causes injustice not only to the accused, but also to their families.
Referring to the Supreme Court decision in Union of India vs KA Najeeb, he said extended pre-trial detention can undermine the principles of justice. Justice Oka criticised certain bail practices, including setting unaffordable bail money, which often leave the poor accused in jail despite bail being granted. He cautioned the courts against imposing intrusive conditions such as continuous digital location tracking, stating that such measures may violate the right to privacy and dignity protected under Article 21.
Dr Madhu Veeraraghavan, pro vice-chancellor of MAHE Bengaluru, and Dr Sarasu Esther Thomas, director of Manipal Law School, MAHE Bengaluru, were present.