SOME MECHANISM A MUST TO END BAIL KA KHEL!

Hyderabad:Not only the common man but also the legal pundits are baffled at the manner in which the bails, anticipatory bails or temporary bails are granted or not granted by different courts in the country. To say that the bail is the law and jail is the exception or bail is the rule while jail is the exception, sounds good academically. The ground reality is altogether different. The advocates practising in the criminal courts and the higher courts vouchsafe that the success or failure of a bail petition largely depends on the attending circumstances and luck. Whether to grant bail or not to an incarcerated person, to venture the statistical guess, is 20:80. In other words, the golden rules of bail laid down by the erudite judges of the High Courts and the Supreme Court are more followed in breach than are complied with.

The criminal jurisprudence which acts as the beacon light in this regard says that no more restraint than is necessary to ensure that the accused does not abscond after getting the bail or he does not interfere with the police investigation or he does not threaten or influence the witnesses or tamper with the visible evidence must be considered by the court dealing with a bail petition. Further, in order to ensure the attendance of the accused thus enlarged on bail, reasonable bail bonds, and not excessive, must be taken. Besides, certain other conditions such as not making any public utterances about the subject matter of the case concerned or deriding the courts and its procedure or extending full cooperation to the investigating agencies by remaining present on stipulated days and time, also generally form the part of the bail order.

What is essential while granting the bail is the antecedents of the accused, his willingness to face the trial and other pressing circumstances such as, aged parents, minor children or ailing relative. Seen in this context, the political or social status of the accused is of least importance. While the nature of the offences an accused has been charged with certainly deserves consideration, the court should be discerning in this matter and should not blindly swallow what the prosecution presents to it.

It is because of these varieties of factors that often the bail petitions appear to be following the skewed path and lacking consistency. But we should also be mindful of the fact that the law ordains upon the judges to ensure that not only justice ought to be done, but it should also appear to have been done. Thus, there is a delicate line between what the jurisprudence dictates and what the public perception is. Indeed, it is like a tight rope walking, but all judges worth their salt have to tread such a risky path.

HINDUJAS CONVICTED BY A SWISS COURT

One of the richest British families in Britain, the Hindujas, suffered ignominy by a Swiss court for the ill-treatment meted out to the household servants.

A Geneva court recently sentenced four members of the Hindujas, Prakash , his wife, son and daughter-in-law to imprisonment upto four and a half years and fine. The Hindujas had denied the allegations of human trafficking, under-payment of wages and severe restrictions on the movements of Indian workers to do household work in their Lakeview villa in Geneva.

PERSONS GUILTY OF HEINOUS CRIMES SHOULD NOT GO UNPUNISHED: KERALA HC

In a case titled, Ivin Vs. State of Kerala registered under Section 482 Cr.P.C for quashing the FIR and Final Police Report as the concerned parties had compromised, a single Judge bench of the Kerala High Court ruled that though the cases can be compounded under Section 320 Cr.PC though some of them may not be compoundable, in case of heinous offences such as, murder, rape, dacoity etc, the power should be exercised after due caution.

Referring to the FIR, Justice A Badharudin held that though such serious nature crimes might have been compromised by the victim and the accused, but such compromise does not have the legal sanction because it sends out a wrong message to the society.

The case matrix included the facts that the accused was a dance teacher and taking advantage of his position had repeatedly sexually assaulted the minor student. The accused was booked under Section 377 IPC, Ss.3 (a) (d) r/w S.4(2), 5 (1) p r/w Ss.67,8,9 (1) p r/w S.10 of the POCSO Act and S.3(2) (v) of SC/ ST Act, 2015.

PATNA HC QUASHES LAW EXTENDING SC, ST, OBC RESERVATIONS TO 60 P.C

A division bench of the Patna High Court has recently set aside a 2023 Amendment extending reservations to SC, ST and OBC communities from 50 per cent to 60 per cent.

A bench comprising the chief justice Vinod Chandran and Justice Harish Kumar held the said Amendment as violative of Articles 14, 15 and 16 of the Constitution of India.

DELHI HC GRANTS RELIEF TO INFOSYS LTD IN TRADE MARK CASE

Justice Sanjiv Narula of the Delhi High Court in a recent judgement in the matter involving Infosys Limited and Southern Infosys Limited held that the name Southern Infosys used by the Respondent company amounts to the infringement of the petitioner 's Rights under the Trade Marks Act.

The bench also opined that the delay in filing the petition by the petitioner does not adversely affect the rights of the petitioner.