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Dharmesh @ Dharmendra @ Dhamo Jagdishbhai @ Jagabhai Bhagubhai Ratadia & Anr. v. The State of Gujarat

Criminal Appeal · 2021 INSC 323Decided 7 Jul 2021
Criminal Appeal No. 432 of 2021
Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul · Justice Hemant Gupta

Background

Following a violent clash between two groups in Amreli, Gujarat on 10.11.2019, in which two people died, the appellants were arrested as accused in the case. When the High Court granted them bail in December 2020, it attached a condition requiring each of them to deposit Rs. 2 lakh as compensation to the victims' families before the trial court. The appellants challenged only this compensation condition, arguing there was no provision in the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) allowing a court to impose payment of victim compensation as a condition for bail, since compensation under the CrPC can only be ordered after a trial concludes and a sentence is passed.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court agreed with the appellants. It examined Sections 357, 235(2), and 250 of the CrPC and held that compensation to a victim is legally tied to the conclusion of a trial and imposition of a sentence: it cannot be determined or imposed at the pre-trial bail stage. The Court clarified it was not ruling out monetary conditions for bail altogether (such as in property offences), but that treating a bail condition as "compensation to be deposited and disbursed" to victims was improper. Noting that other co-accused with similar or more serious roles had been granted bail without such a condition, the Court set aside the Rs. 2 lakh compensation condition and substituted it with a condition restricting the appellants from entering the Amreli area for six months, bringing them to parity with the other accused.

Lesson Learnt

Courts cannot impose victim "compensation" as a condition for bail before a trial is concluded and guilt is established: compensation under the CrPC is a post-conviction remedy, not a pre-trial bail bargaining chip, and bail conditions should be applied consistently among similarly-placed co-accused.

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

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