The Supreme Court on Monday (June 23, 2025) condemned the prevailing method in which the parties voluntarily offer sufficient funds for bail, but later demands to relax the strict conditions imposed by the High Courts.
A bench of Justice KV Vishwanathan and Justice N. Kotishwar Singh said that the Supreme Court is aware of the rights of the individual under Article 21 of the Constitution, but should be equally aware of the sanctity of the judicial process. The bench said, “There can be no dispute that more bail amount is equivalent to not granting bail and strict conditions should not be imposed while granting bail.”
The Supreme Court said that strict conditions will depend on the facts and circumstances of personal matters. This comment was made when the bench was considering a petition filed on the order of the Madras High Court. The bench said that the petitioner was booked for offense under the provisions of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, as he had allegedly stolen taxes worth Rs 13.73 crore.
The petitioner was arrested on 27 March and he turned to the High Court for bail. It came to the record that when the bail plea was heard in the High Court on May 8, the petitioner’s counsel argued that the petitioner had already deposited Rs 2.86 crore and he is ready to follow any rigorous condition.
The lawyer voluntarily argued before the High Court that the petitioner is ready to deposit Rs 2.50 crore within 10 days from the date of release on bail. The High Court granted him bail with instructions to deposit Rs 50 lakh in the pending case in the lower court. Another instruction was given to deposit the remaining two crore rupees within 10 days of release.
On confirmation that he has paid Rs 50 lakh, the petitioner was ordered to be released by the High Court on a bond of Rs 10 lakh. However, on May 12, an application for amendment in the High Court was filed and argued that the condition of depositing Rs 50 lakh before the release of the petitioner due to the circumstances mentioned in the petition was almost impossible.
On May 14, the High Court gave a permission to the petitioner to deposit Rs 2.50 crore within 10 days from the date of release, while other conditions imposed on him remained unchanged. The petitioner turned to the Supreme Court against the High Court’s May 14 order.