'India Is My Country, All Indians Are My Brothers & Sisters': Quoting National Pledge Kerala HC Says Courts Can't Insist That Surety Must Be From A Particular State

Aggrieved by the bail condition that one surety should be from the Idukki district itself, the petitioner who was a native of West Bengal has approached the Court.

Justice P.V. Kunhikrishnan observed that all persons are citizens of this country and Courts cannot insist that surety should belong to a particular area.

“If a Keralite unfortunately became an accused in West Bengal, he would find it extremely difficult to get a surety at West Bengal as he is not a resident of that State. He can produce a surety from his native place where his kith and kin are residing. Similar is the case if a native of West Bengal becomes accused of an offence in Kerala. All are citizens of this country. The sureties are executing the bond to produce the accused as and when required. It cannot be insisted that the sureties residing within the jurisdiction of the Court should execute a bond in all situations.”

The Court held that such bail conditions might be imposed due to the apprehension that sureties cannot be contacted if the accused absconds. The Court stated if the contact details including the address, phone number, and details of the local police station were collected, then the sureties could be traced.

The petitioner, a native of West Bengal was accused in an offence under the NDPS Act. The crime was registered in the Excise Range Office in Idukki. He was granted bail but later his bail was forfeited, and he was sent to judicial custody. When he was presented before the Special Judge, bail conditions were imposed stating that one of the sureties should be from the Idukki district itself and that he has to produce original title deeds for verification.

Quoting the National Pledge, 'India is my country. All Indians are my brothers and sisters…”, the Court stated that India is a diverse country consisting of several states and different languages. It observed that from childhood onwards, all students were made to recite the National Pledge in schools to make us pledge that we are all brothers and sisters.

Thus, the High Court held that courts cannot insist to a native of West Bengal that he should bring a surety from the Idukki district in Kerala itself. It noted that it would be easier for him to ask his kith or kin from West Bengal to become a surety. It also reduced the bail bond amount from two lakh rupees to fifty thousand rupees as the property value in the Idukki district was much higher than the property value in West Bengal.

“…The petitioner is free to produce the sureties from his native place but the petitioner shall produce the identity proof of the sureties like Voters id card, Aadhar card etc. The sureties of the petitioner shall file an affidavit attested by a Notary Public narrating their place of residence, the jurisdictional police station with full communication address and also phone number.”

Accordingly, the Court allowed the petition by modifying the bail conditions.

Counsel for the petitioner: Advocates P Sreekumar, Helen P A, Stephanie Sharon, Athul Roy, Nithin Antony Jose

Counsel for the respondents: Public Prosecutor M P Prasanth

Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (Ker) 759

Case title: Abedur Shekh v State Of Kerala

Case number: CRL.MC NO. 10909 OF 2023

Click Here To Read/Download The Order