Report No. 43
7.99. Bail.-
There was also, before 1967, a provision in section 12 regarding the bailability of offences. The provision was somewhat over-liberal, having regard to the nature of the offence. The section after its amendment1 in 1967, does not deal with bail at all. The matter will, therefore, be governed2 by the Criminal Procedure Code, under which offences under special laws, which are punishable with imprisonment for three years or more, are non-bailable.
This does not end the matter, because, even where the offence is technically non-bailable, bail is not to be refused as a matter of course. In the case of person suspected of an offence connected with the disclosure of secrets of national importance, there is a probability that his ties with India are very thin, and the probability of his absconding is greater than in the case of other offences. This consideration, no doubt, will be taken into account by courts in considering applications for bail. A legislative provision, by way of restriction on the power of the Courts may not be desirable.
1. For the law before 1967, see State v. Jagjit Singh, AIR 1962 SC 253.
2. Criminal Procedure Code Bill, 1970, First Schedule.
Back
