The Court Interpreted Section 437a Of Crpc And Addressed The Detention Dilemma Faced By Acquitted Individuals Who Were Unable To Offer Bail By Allowing For The Discretionary Use Of Personal Bonds Without Surety.

Case title:

Firasat Hussain V. State of NCT of Delhi

Date of Order:

3^rd October, 2023

Bench:

Hon’ble Mr. Justice Suresh Kumar Kait

Hon’ble Ms. Justice Neena Bansal Krishna

Parties:

Petitioner: Firasat Hussain

Respondent: State of NCT of Delhi

SUBJECT

The learned trial courts directed that in instances relevant to Section 437A, the term "shall" shall be read as "may" and the phrase "bail or bail bond" shall be read as "personal bond with or without surety."

IMPORTANT PROVISIONS

Section 437A of the Criminal Procedure Code- Bail to require accused to appear before next appellate Court

OVERVIEW

• On December 12, 2017, this court took the appellant's situation into consideration because, despite being found not guilty, he was unable to post the bail required by Section 437A of the Criminal Procedure Code.
• As a result, Mr. Jawahar Raja, an attorney, was chosen as an amicus curia to advise the court on how to interpret Section 437A of the Criminal Procedure Code in relation to the requirement that an accused who is found not guilty execute bail bonds with sureties in anticipation of filing an appeal with a higher court as well as the possible follow-up instructions.

ISSUES RAISED

Whether a person can be kept in jail if he is unable to execute the bail bonds with surety?

ARGUMENTS ADVANCED BY THE RESPONDENT

• The knowledgeable attorney representing the respondents claims that new criminal laws have been introduced in the Parliament and have since been forwarded to the Select Committee, where they are currently awaiting further review.
• The concern brought before this court is that, even if an accused person is cleared of the allegations that were brought against him, under Section 437A of the Criminal Procedure Code, he still needs to post a personal bond with surety bond. In some situations, if an accused does not provide the surety, he is required to remain in jail despite being found not guilty because the surety was not provided.
• Therefore, by order dated March 6, 2018, the Union of India was instructed to investigate the legality of Section 437A of the Criminal Procedure Code.

JUDGEMENT ANALYSIS

• Even Section 483 of the New Criminal Laws, according to the court, does not address the matter that this Court has raised suo moto.
• According to the aforementioned Section, the accused must post bail in order to appear before the next Appellate Court, and the court that is trying the case or the Appellate Court may "require the accused to execute bond or bail bond" whenever the court receives notice of an appeal or petition filed against the decision of the relevant court.
• The word "shall" in the aforementioned section signifies that the accused must provide a bail bond with surety.
• As a result, the learned trial courts directed that in instances relevant to Section 437A, the term "shall" shall be read as "may" and the phrase "bail or bail bond" shall be read as "personal bond with or without surety."
• It might take some time for the Criminal Laws to be changed.

CONCLUSION

When the higher court issues a notice of appeal against the court's decision, Section 437A of the Code of Criminal Procedure requires the accused to execute bail bonds with sureties in order to appear in that court. The duration of the bail bonds is six months. A person accused with a non-bailable offense must post bail to the satisfaction of the magistrate if their trial is not finished within sixty days of the first date set for hearing evidence in the case. This clause gives the Court or a police official the option of releasing an accused person on bail in a situation where there is no possibility of death or life imprisonment.