The Supreme Court has disapproved the practice of rejecting or granting bail with a "lone sentence" that is adopted by the High Courts in certain cases.
In a judgement on Tuesday, a bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and M R Shah said, "We must disapprove of the manner in which a succession of orders in the present batch of cases has recorded that counsel for the 'respective parties do not press for further reasoned order'. If this is a euphemism for not recording adequate reasons (for bail), this kind of a formula cannot shield the order from judicial scrutiny."
The court set aside the Gujarat High Court's order allowing bail to six accused in a case involving five murders due to a land dispute in the district of East Kachchh -Gandhidham, acting on a special leave petition filed by complainant Ramesh Bhavan Rathod.
"Grant of bail under Section 439 of the Criminal Procedure Code is a matter involving the exercise of judicial discretion, which is vested in a court as a judicial institution and is not unstructured," the apex court said.
"These are not matters involving the private rights of two individual parties, as in a civil proceeding. The proper enforcement of criminal law is a matter of public interest," the bench pointed out.
The duty to record reasons is a significant safeguard to ensure that the discretion is exercised in a judicious manner. This also ensures that the thought process underlying the order is subject to scrutiny and that it meets objective standards of reason and justice, the top court added.
The bench said the court cannot obviate its duty to apply a judicial mind and to record reasons, brief as they may be. Even the consent of parties cannot be a ground not to indicate its reasons why it has either granted or refused bail, the court said.
(Published 21 April 2021, 11:44 IST)
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