Courts Must Deal Sensitively To Ensure Justice For Undertrials Awaiting Judgement From A Long Time: Supreme Court

WHAT DID THE COURT SAY?

• In Mohd Muslim @ Hussain v. State (Nct Of Delhi), the Supreme Court of India held that laws which impose strict restrictions on the grant of bail are necessary for the public interest but proper attention needs to be paid to ensure that undertrials are not kept in custody for a long time. 
• A Division Bench of Justice S Ravindra Bhat and Dipankar Datta held that a literal interpretation of Section 37 of the NDPS Act would suggest full exclusion of grant of bail and thus, resulting in unmonitored preventive detention for the undertrials.

WHAT IS THE CASE ABOUT? 

• In this case, the appellant Mohd Muslim @ Hussain was arrested in 2015 for offences under Sections 20/ 25/ 29 of the NDPS Act and Section 120B IPC. 
• In 2017, his bail was rejected by the trial court due to the gravity of the offence. 
• On appeal to the High Court, the same was dismissed on the grounds that bail cannot be granted to offenders under NDPS Act in the public interest.
• Accordingly, the present appeal was filed by the appellant.

OBSERVATION OF THE COURT AND DECISION: 

• The Ld. Court noted that there are certain laws where the provisions for granting bail are strict to prevent certain crimes to be repeated. However, the Courts must deal sensitively to ensure that justice is extended to undertrials who spend significant years locked up in prison while their cases are pending.
• The Court also noted that sections such as Section 37 of the NDPS Act make it extremely difficult for courts to grant bail as its literal interpretation doesn’t allow for the same.
• The Court also observed that the appellant was in custody for a consecutive period of 7 years. He belonged to a backward community and was a victim of stringent laws like the NDPS Act.
• Accordingly, the court allowed the appeal and granted bail to the appellant.

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