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Issues of personal liberty must be adjudicated with a sense of urgency, Supreme Court judge Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud on Saturday told judicial officers from across the country, exhorting them to stick to the principle of \u201cbail, not jail\u201d as a cardinal rule for the criminal justice system. <\/p>\n {{\/userSubscribed}} {{\/userSubscribed}} He was addressing over 1,200 officers from district judiciaries at the first all India district legal services authorities meet in the national capital. <\/p>\n Emphasising that \u201cdeprivation of liberty for even a single day, is a day too many\u201d, justice Chandrachud urged judges to expedite hearings of bail pleas and improve the quality of justice being dispensed. <\/p>\n Bringing up the issue of bail, justice Chandrachud pointed out that it has become one of the most potent criticisms of the judiciary and its track record in upholding constitutional principles of liberty. <\/p>\n \u201cThe oft-cited rule \u2018bail, not jail\u2019 is one of the most fundamental rules of the criminal justice system. Yet, in practice, the number of undertrials languishing in prisons in India reflects a paradoxical situation. Deprivation of liberty for even a single day, is a day too many…the judiciary\u2019s commitment to the constitutional promise of personal liberty has to be bolstered in two significant ways \u2014 first, by addressing the quantitative delay in disposing of criminal matters, particularly bail petitions; and second, by improving the quality of justice that is dispensed by courts,\u201d underscored the judge.<\/p>\n {{\/userSubscribed}} {{\/userSubscribed}} <\/p>\n Justice Chandrachud headed the bench, which had on July 20 granted bail to Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair after his incarceration for almost a month in connection with a spate of criminal cases lodged against the fact-checker over his old tweets. Writing the judgment for the bench, Justice Chandrachud had regretted that Zubair got \u201ctrapped in a vicious cycle of the criminal process where the process has itself become the punishment,\u201d and added that individuals must not be punished solely on the basis of allegations and without a fair trial. <\/p>\n During Saturday\u2019s address, justice Chandrachud sought to dispel apprehensions of judicial officers regarding the grant of bail at the first stage in fit cases. <\/p>\n \u201cWhat is the value of the rich jurisprudence developed by the Supreme Court since the independence of our nation to preserve and protect the liberty of each individual, if that does not come to the aid of the individual at the grass-root level? There is also a brooding sense of fear among courts of the first instance on how the grant of anticipatory bail or bail will be perceived at higher levels. This results in either rejection of bail or grant of bail on extremely onerous conditions \u2014 both of which, are undesirable outcomes,\u201d he stressed.<\/p>\n {{\/userSubscribed}} {{\/userSubscribed}} <\/p>\n The judge highlighted that denial of bail or imposing extremely harsh conditions at the time of granting bail set in motion a vicious cycle, where litigants are trapped in a \u201cjudicial whirlpool\u201d, moving to the higher courts and navigating layers of bureaucracy, touts, delays and corruption. <\/p>\n \u201cThis affects the poorest of our country the most, who not only suffer at the hands of the police, but are also caught in this judicial web, without adequate economic resources or knowledge to cut through the red-tapism,\u201d rued justice Chandrachud, underlining that the proceedings at the trial court level chart the course of a litigant\u2019s life for months, if not years, to come. <\/p>\n \u201cOnly this realisation would help to rid ourselves of the colonial mindset of referring and treating the district courts as the subordinate judiciary \u2014 in hierarchy and in practice…The hierarchy between courts is only a matter of administration, and not one of importance. It is the responsibility of every member of the judiciary to foster a space that echoes justice. Courts in the district judiciary are the first doorway to a responsive court system,\u201d added the judge.<\/p>\n {{\/userSubscribed}} {{\/userSubscribed}} <\/p>\n Recently, apart from the Supreme Court order in granting bail to Zubair, another judgment by a top court bench led by justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul bore down on releasing undertrials on bail, as it recommended that the Union government frame a new law to facilitate the grant of bail, saying India should never become a \u201cpolice State\u201d with investigating agencies acting like a vestige of colonial era. <\/p>\n Justice Chandrachud, in his Saturday address, also touched on the issue integrating pre-existing systems of court with technology saying it is the future of the justice system. Judiciary can either adopt to a virtual court system or intensify the problem of pendency, said the judge, exhorting trial court judges to adapt and transform the conventional system of delivering justice.<\/p>\n {{\/userSubscribed}} {{\/userSubscribed}} <\/p>\n \u201cThe issue is not \u2018whether\u2019 we should, but \u2018how best\u2019 we adopt technology. The pandemic has provided us a strong push in realising the necessity and urgency of using technology as it left us with only two choices \u2014 either we adapt to a virtual system, or aggravate the problem of pendency that plagues our system,\u201d highlighted justice Chandrachud, who is also the chairperson of the top court\u2019s eCommittee. <\/p>\n It is imperative that our courts are accessible as institutions, said the judge, adding accessibility, in one sense, is emblematic of justice. <\/p>\n \u201cThe digitisation of courts is one way in ensuring greater convenience and reducing costs associated with litigation…In a country as diverse as India, accessibility, inclusivity, and opportunity are three difficult paradigms to knit together. Courts can contribute to this aim in a major way. It is imperative that every level of the judicial system is accessible, litigant-friendly, and inclusive to persons from all sections of society. The physical and digital architecture of courts must be inclusive, as a matter of conscious design,\u201d underlined the judge.<\/p>\n {{\/userSubscribed}} {{\/userSubscribed}} <\/p>\n Referring to the Digital India programme that aims to achieve inclusive growth by transforming India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy, justice Chandarchud said in the rapidly changing milieu when the Centre and state governments are constantly creating initiatives to improve governance, provide public services and strengthen accountability mechanisms, the judiciary cannot be far behind. <\/p>\n
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