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B.N. Srivastava v. CBI, EOU-IV, New Delhi

Criminal Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Criminal Appeal No. 784 of 2017)Decided 25 Apr 2017
Criminal Appeal No. 784 of 2017
Justice J. Chelameswar · Justice S. Abdul Nazeer

Background

The appellant, accused in a corruption case before the Special Judge (Prevention of Corruption), CBI, Ghaziabad, was granted bail but on the onerous condition that he deposit Rs. 50 lakh in court, given allegations of serious financial loss to the government. On challenge, the High Court had stayed that condition subject to the appellant depositing Rs. 10 lakh instead, which he did, but later dismissed his further challenge to the original Rs. 50 lakh condition.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court noted that two co-accused in the same case had been granted bail without any such deposit condition, and that the appellant had already been in custody for more than four years and had already paid Rs. 10 lakh under the High Court's interim order. Balancing these factors, the Court held that the Special Court was right to grant bail in principle, but that the Rs. 50 lakh deposit condition was excessive; the Rs. 10 lakh already deposited was held sufficient, and the trial court's direction was modified accordingly. The appeal was disposed of with the appellant to be released on satisfying the other bail conditions.

Lesson Learnt

Bail conditions must be reasonable and proportionate, not so onerous that they defeat the purpose of granting bail; courts will take into account disparity in conditions imposed on similarly situated co-accused and the length of time already spent in custody.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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