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Deepak Chandratan Pareek v. Union of India through CBI

Criminal Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Criminal Appeal Nos. 768-769 of 2017)Decided 21 Apr 2017
Criminal Appeal Nos. 768-769 of 2017
Justice J. Chelameswar · Justice S. Abdul Nazeer

Background

Deepak Chandratan Pareek had been granted bail by the High Court of Orissa at Cuttack, but the High Court's orders (dated 6 January 2017 and 9 February 2017, in BA No. 4542 of 2015 and MCN No. 42 of 2017) required him to furnish cash security of Rs. 2 crore in fixed deposits as a precondition for his release. He challenged this condition as excessively harsh, bringing the matter to the Supreme Court.

Decision Breakdown

After hearing both sides, the Supreme Court agreed that requiring a Rs. 2 crore cash security was "onerous" given the facts of the case. The Court modified that specific condition, reducing the required cash security to Rs. 1 crore in fixed deposits from a nationalized bank, while leaving every other part of the High Court's bail order undisturbed. The appeals were disposed of on these terms.

Lesson Learnt

Bail conditions, while within a court's discretion, must be proportionate: an appellate court can and will step in to reduce an excessively harsh financial condition attached to bail, even while otherwise upholding the decision to grant bail.

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

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