REQUIREMENT OF EXPEDITIOUS TRIAL MUST BE READ INTO SPECIAL STATUTES IMPOSING STRINGENT BAIL PROVISIONS
Category: Criminal Law
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BACKGROUNDÂ
While hearing the bail petition of the former Tamil Nadu minister Senthil Balaji. The bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Augustine Georg bench agreed that there was a prima facie case against Balaji in a money laundering case arising from cash-for-jobs scam dating to his 2011- 2016 tenure as transport minister in AIADMK government, it decided to give him bail on the ground that the TN politician had already spent 15 months in jail and there was no likelihood of the case being concluded in near future, considering that the case involves 2,000 accused and 500 witnesses.
This observation was made in the case V. Senthil Balaji v. The Deputy Director
LEGAL ASPECTSÂ
A bench on Justice Abhay Oka and Justice Augustine George Masih emphasized the incompatibility of stringent bail provisions with prolonged delays in trial.
The court held that The expeditious disposal of the trial is also warranted considering the higher threshold set for the grant of bail. Hence, the requirement of expeditious disposal of cases must be read into these statutes. Inordinate delay in the conclusion of the trial and the higher threshold for the grant of bail cannot go together. It is a well settled principle of our criminal jurisprudence that “bail is the rule, and jail is the exception.” These stringent provisions regarding the grant of bail, such as Section 45(1)(iii) of the PMLA, cannot become a tool which can be used to incarcerate the accused without trial for an unreasonably long time.
The Supreme Court cited the judgment in Union of India v. KA Najeeb, emphasizing that constitutional courts have the power to grant bail if it is evident that the trial will not be completed within a reasonable time.Â
SC held that prolonged incarceration without trial is violations of Fundamental rights to liberty and the right to a speedy trial under Article 21 of the Constitution.Â
The Court observed, “When the trial of the complaint under PMLA is likely to prolong beyond reasonable limits, the Constitutional Courts will have to consider exercising their powers to grant bail. The reason is that Section 45(1)(ii) does not confer power on the State to detain an accused for an unreasonably long time, especially when there is no possibility of trial concluding within a reasonable time.The Constitutional Courts cannot allow provisions like Section 45(1)(ii) to become instruments in the hands of the ED to continue incarceration for a long time when there is no possibility of a trial of the scheduled offence and the PMLA offence concluding within a reasonable time. If the Constitutional Courts do not exercise their jurisdiction in such cases, the rights of the undertrials under Article 21 of the Constitution of India will be defeated.”
The Court observed that the scheduled offences against Balaji involve over 2,000 accused and more than 600 witnesses. Such a high number of accused and witnesses significantly complicated the trial process, with the framing of charges and hearing of arguments being expected to take several months, the Court observed.
The Court explained that the framing of charges alone would require hearing the arguments of many advocates representing the large number of accused. Moreover, after charges are framed, the Court would have to examine over 600 witnesses, rely on documentary and electronic evidence, and consider statements under Section 313 of the CrPC. As a result, the trial could be delayed for several years, the Court opined. Even under ideal conditions, the Court found it unlikely that the trial would be concluded within three to four years.
For the PMLA charges, the Court held that no charges had been framed at the time of the judgment.
The Court explained that for a money laundering charge under Section 3 of the PMLA to proceed, the existence of "proceeds of crime" (defined in Section 2(u) of the PMLA) is a necessary condition.
CONCLUSIONÂ
Therefore, the court held that the existence of a scheduled offence is sine qua non for alleging the existence of proceeds of crime...The existence of proceeds of crime at the time of the trial of the offence under Section 3 of PMLA can be proved only if the scheduled offence is established in the prosecution of the scheduled offence. Therefore, even if the trial of the case under the PMLA proceeds, it cannot be finally decided unless the trial of scheduled offences concludes. Considering the unlikelihood of early completion of trial and the long incarceration, the Court chose to grant him bail, despite finding that there is a prima facie case against him.
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WRITTEN BY: PRATIKSHA SWAIN
GUIDED BY: ADVOCATE ANIK
