New Delhi: On Friday, the Supreme Court observed that criminal law cannot become a “weapon for the targeted harassment of citizens,” while providing reasons for granting a provisional bond to journalist Arnab Goswami on November 11 in connection with a case of complicity in 2018 for suicide.
After underlining that the “basic rule of the criminal justice system is bail, not jail,” a court of Judge DY Chandrachud and Judge Indira Banerjee in an order extended the provisional bail granted to Goswami, stating that it will be in effect until new procedures are carried out. Meanwhile, the parties involved in the case may continue to seek an additional remedy, they added.
In delving into the importance of human freedom and the role of the courts, the judges noted that Goswami had been targeted for expressing opinions that were not acceptable to the authority. However, they said: “The deprivation of liberty for a single day is one day too many.”
The high court judges also used the occasion to criticize the Bombay high court for denying Goswami provisional bail in the habeas corpus petitions filed with him on 9 November. “We are clearly of the opinion that by not making even a prima facie evaluation of the FIR, the Supreme Court abdicated its constitutional duty and its role as protector of freedom,” they noted.
They also instructed the country’s superior courts and district courts to allow appellants to opt for bail when permitted. Courts must ensure that they continue to be the first line of defense when citizens’ freedom is deprived, the judges said.
Highlighting the role played by the district and higher courts, they regretted that a number of sub-trials continue to languish in the prisons, as they fail to obtain bail in the lower courts and could not move to the Supreme Court.
“The courts must be attentive to the situation that prevails on the ground, in prisons and police stations where human dignity has no protector … The remedy of bail is a solemn expression of humanity in the justice system,” said the judges on the importance of the bond.
To reinforce the importance of bail, the higher judges invoked the famous case of Rajasthan State, Jaipur v Balchand, He referred to Judge Krishna Iyer’s statement that “the basic rule of our criminal justice system is bail, not jail.”
Meanwhile, along with Goswami, the provisional bond will also apply to the co-defendants in the case, Neetish Sarda and Firoze Mohammed Sheikh, according to the November 11 order of the supreme court. Goswami was arrested on November 4 in connection with a criminal case related to the suicide of interior designer Anvay Naik in 2018.
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