Accused Remaining In Prison Due To Inability To Furnish Bail Bonds Or Surety Is A Regular Phenomenon : Supreme Court Seeks Intervention Of DLSAs

The Supreme Court on Monday expressed concern regarding persons who have been granted bail but are not able to fill in the bail bonds or produce surety before the court which results in them not being able to get out of the prison.

A bench comprising of Justices A. S. Bopanna and S. Ravindra Bhat observed that, "This is a regular phenomenon where accused are given bail but they are not able to  give bail bonds or local surety. It will be appropriate that the district legal service authority should devise some method".

Senior Advocate Mahalakshmi Pavani, the Counsel appearing for the Petitioner,  apprised the court that very few High Courts have filed their reports pursuant to the order dated 9th May 2022 by which all High Courts were to submit reports regarding the bail orders which have not been complied with.

The counsel appearing for the Rajasthan High Court apprised the Court that a report has been filed.

The Court listed the matter after 3 weeks and has directed the other High Courts to file the status report in the meanwhile.

The Supreme Court was hearing a plea where a misinterpretation of its order by a trial court judge in Andhra Pradesh resulted in the accused languishing in custody even after interim bail was granted by the top court. The accused was granted bail after being in custody for 9 years but the accused had undergone custody for two additional years.

The Supreme Court had earlier remarked on the situation that, "This case portrays very sorry state of affairs." The Supreme Court had also observed that corrective mechanism shall have to be put in place especially where the proceedings were initiated through the legal services authority.

Case : Gopishetty Harikrishna vs. The State of Andhra Pradesh – SLP (Crl.) No. 4685/2020

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