Prolonged Incarceration Of Undertrials Violates Constitutional Principles Of Dignity & Liberty : SC Relaxes Bail Condition Imposed On Nigerian Accused In NDPS Case

Prolonged incarceration of undertrial prisoners violates the constitutional principles of dignity and liberty, the Supreme Court observed while relaxing a bail condition imposed on a nigerian accused.

The bench of Justices Hrishikesh Roy and Pankaj Mithal said that the liberty of an accused who is facing prolonged trial deserves attention of the Court.

In this case, one of the bail condition imposed by the High Court read thus: The Special Court will seek a certificate of assurance from the High Commission of Nigeria, New Delhi, that the accused shall not leave the country till the trial is concluded, and shall appear before the Special Court on each and every date, unless exempted by the Special Court in exceptional circumstances. The applicant will not be released on bail in the absence of such a certificate of assurance.

In appeal before the Apex Court, the accused-appellant contended that this condition is causing serious prejudice to him as the High Commission of Nigeria is unlikely to grant him such a certificate of assurance.

The court noted that in the course of last seven years, the trial could not be concluded and we are informed that out of twenty witnesses, only thirteen have been examined so far.

"The liberty of an accused who is facing prolonged trial deserves attention of the Court...Prolonged incarceration of undertrial prisoners violates the constitutional principles of dignity and liberty. In this case, even though Bail was granted, the accused could not be released due to an onerous condition. In this regard, it would be apposite to refer to the judgment of this Court in Hussainara Khatoon v Home Secy.,State of Bihar (1980) 1 SCC 81 where it was held that Article 21 includes within its ambit the right to speedy trial. It was further held that the procedure under which a person is deprived of personal liberty should be “reasonable, fair and just”".

The court also referred to some observations made in its recent judgment in Mohd. Muslim v. State (NCT of Delhi) 2023 LiveLaw (SC) 260.

Therefore, the Court observed that even without satisfying the above condition, bail can be considered for the appellant who is in custody since 02.6.2014.

Ejike Jonas Orji vs Narcotics Control Bureau | 2023 LiveLaw (SC) 670 | CrA 2468/2023

Bail - Bail condition of NDPS accused relaxed - The liberty of an accused who is facing prolonged trial deserves attention of the Court - Prolonged incarceration of undertrial prisoners violates the constitutional principles of dignity and liberty. (Para 8-10)

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