Bail orders should be stayed only in rare and exceptional cases says SC

Courts should refrain from staying bail orders in a mechanical manner and without giving any reason, the Supreme Court said Friday, 12 July, underlining that the relief should be denied to an accused only in rare and exceptional cases.

A bench of justice Abhay S Oka and justice Augustine George Masih said courts cannot curtail the liberty of an accused in a casual manner.

"The courts should stay bail order only in rare and exceptional cases like somebody is involved in terrorist cases, where order is perverse or provisions of law have been bypassed. You cannot restrict liberty like this. This will be disastrous. If we grant stay like this, this will be disaster. Where will Article 21 go," the bench observed.

The top court made the observations while reserving its judgement on a plea filed by Parvinder Singh Khurana, an accused in a money laundering case, who challenged the Delhi High Court's order of temporarily staying a bail order passed by the trial court.

The apex court on Thursday had said courts should not stay bail order in a "casual manner".

Expressing surprise over the high court order, the bench said the direction was shocking.

"Unless he is a terrorist, where is the reason to stay?" justice Oka had remarked.

Khurana was granted bail by the trial court in a PMLA case on 17 June 2023 but the HC stayed the order. The apex court on 7 June stayed the HC order and restored Khurana's bail.