Bail Is Rule, Jail Exception’: Supreme Court’s Reminder For Anti-Terror Cases

New Delhi: 

The Supreme Court has re-emphasised the ‘bail is rule, jail is exception’ principle – which it underlined while granting bail last week to ex Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia – that courts must follow, even when charges are filed under special statutes like anti-terror law UAPA.

The reference was to one of the truly landmark moments in Indian jurisprudence, dating back to 1977 when Justice Krishna Iyer lay down what many see as a cardinal rule, that ‘bail is the rule…’

And, in a significant statement today, a bench of Justice Abhay S Oka and Justice Augustine George Masih seemed to channel that sentiment, stating that “once a case has been made out for grant of bail… the court cannot decline relief”.