Bail Condition Restraining Political Activities Violates Fundamental Rights, Can't Be Imposed : Supreme Court

The Supreme Court recently ruled that requiring a politician to abstain from engaging in political activities as a condition for granting bail would violate fundamental rights.

In a case titled Siba Shankar Das vs State of Odisha and another, a bench comprising Justices BR Gavai and Sandeep Mehta overturned a bail condition imposed by the Orissa High Court, which prohibited a politician from participating in political activities.

The Supreme Court stated that such a condition would infringe upon the appellant's fundamental rights and should not have been imposed.

Consequently, the court quashed and set aside the condition imposed by the High Court. The petitioner, Siba Shankar Das, a leader of the Odisha Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and former mayor of Berhampur, had multiple criminal cases against him after switching parties from the Biju Janata Dal (BJD). He approached the Supreme Court after the Orissa High Court, in its August 2022 bail order, had directed him to refrain from creating any disturbances in public and to avoid any direct or indirect involvement in political activities, a directive that was ultimately overturned by the Supreme Court.

"We find that the imposition of such condition would breach the fundamental rights of the appellant and no such conditions could have been imposed. We, therefore, quash and set aside the condition imposed by the High Court, to the extent the same is extracted above," the Supreme Court observed in its order.

Case Title : Siba Shankar Das vs State of Odisha and another

Citation : 2024 LiveLaw (SC) 259

Click here to read the order