Expressing concern over the lack of courage shown by trial courts in granting bail to the accused, the Supreme Court has advised the High Courts to exercise their discretion judiciously when deciding on such matters.
Slamming the Allahabad High Court for denying bail to an accused in a case of alleged religious conversion, the Bench of Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice R Mahadevan observed that this lack of courage was the reason the Constitutional courts were flooded with bail applications.
Noting that trial courts seldom mustered the courage to grant bail in any offence, the top court of the country said it expected High Courts to at least muster the courage and exercise its discretion judiciously.
The Apex Court observed that in the present case, discretion did not mean that a High Court judge could decline bail on his own whims and fancy by terming conversion a very serious matter.
When a High Court declined bail in such matters, it gave an impression that different considerations altogether weighed with the presiding officer, ignoring the well-settled principles of the grant of bail.
The Bench further expressed apprehension over whether the trial judges were aware about their wide powers to grant bail, despite several conferences, seminars and workshops being held every year to make them understand how to exercise their discretion while considering a bail application under the scope of Section 439 of the CrPC or Section 483 of the BNSS.
The Bench, while stating that the matter should not have reached the Supreme Court, said that the trial court itself should have been courageous enough to exercise its discretion to release the accused on bail.