About The Bailing Process - When Should You Be Worried

What is bail?

In India, there are a lot of FIRs registered every day. At times, the accused may be innocent; in such cases, bail is the only option to be set him free temporarily. Under Article 21, every person has the right to freedom. Bail can be called an extension to the freedom right. Indian law focuses on justice to innocent and works such that no innocent is suffering. And hence, the concept of bail has arisen.

Bail is a kind of bond or security given in exchange for the defendant's release from the officer-in-charge's custody. If a person is taken under custody for getting booked in a case, his/her acquaintances can get him bail. The goal of bail is to make sure that the person attends the trial of the crime he/she is accused of. Not all crimes are bailable, few are non-bailable or anticipatory bailable. Crimes like grand larceny, physical assault, property destruction, grand theft, arson, rape, and murder are bailable crimes.

There are three types of bail

1. Regular bail
2. Interim bail
3. Anticipatory bail

Under Section 437 and Section 439, regular bail is given to those who are kept in custody.

An interim bail is granted before the processing of regular bail or anticipatory bail. This bail is valid for a temporary period only (can be extended).

Anticipatory bail is given to accused those who got arrested for a non-bailable offense. The bail is given under a few conditions.

The Supreme court has given the power of granting bail to the officer in charge. While anticipatory bail is issued by the High court or Session court.

Process of bail

A person firstly gets booked by the police and taken into custody when he/she is accused of any crime. They write down the person's details, such as name, date, and place of birth, address, etc. The police also look into the accused's personal history and previous criminal records, if any. The police also test them if he/she is intoxicated during the preparation of the charge sheet.

This accused person, depending on the type of crime, has a right to apply for bail. If he/she is accused of harassment, then they can apply for anticipatory bail.

The court considers many factors while hearing a bail. The judge considers the arrest's character, nature of the crime, his/her employment status, etc. These pieces of evidence are presented to the judge by his/her lawyer. Hiring the best professional lawyer is always suggested. These factors are essential even for the setting of the bail amount. Every case and situation has different bail amounts.

If the accused is not satisfied by the declaration of the judge. He/she is free to apply for a transfer petition in the supreme court.

Special Leave Petition

When the session court or high court rejects bail, the accused can apply for bail in the supreme court by applying for a Bail's Special Leave Petition. After SLP is filed, the supreme court considers all the evidence and then proceeds to grant the bail/leave and converts the petition into appeal. The accused can also apply for SLP when he/she needs Anticipatory Bail from Supreme Court.

When the accused is pleaded guilty, he/she must surrender to the law and act accordingly. The supreme court has the powers to declare and extend the time of surrender.