In a purposefully detailed judgment on the grant of bail to a citizen accused under the draconian Prevention of Money Laundering Act, the Supreme Court last week placed the issue in a context fundamental to any evaluation of what defines constitutional democracy.
https://thewire.in/law/individual-liberty-and-the-sc-verdict-on-pmla
In upholding the doctrine that bail is the norm and jail the exception even under special laws like PMLA, the court for the first time made an elaboration that goes to the heart of the principle of fundamental rights.
Cutting through the detail, the court underlined that Article 21 of the Constitution which lays down that ‘no citizen shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty” except on the basis of procedures laid down in the law, is the “higher right” and as a constitutional provision supersedes any statutory laws that make the grant of bail difficult to well-nigh impossible.
by Badri Raina
03/09/2024