The granting of bail cannot be contingent upon the surrender of a co-accused : Supreme Court
In a recent ruling in the matter of MUNSHI SAH v. THE STATE OF BIHAR & ANR., (CRIMINAL APPEAL Nos. 3198-3199 OF 2023), a Division Bench of the Supreme Court granted bail to an accused in a dowry death case. The Court emphasized that bail for a co-accused should not be conditional upon the surrender of another accused, even if the latter is considered the main accused. The appellant, who is the brother of the husband and also an accused, had sought bail. The husband had been evading arrest, and the trial had commenced without his apprehension.
Before approaching the Supreme Court, the appellant had sought bail from the Patna High Court. The High Court, in its judgment, had ordered the petitioner's release on bail, but with the condition that the husband of the deceased surrender before the trial court. The Supreme Court, however, ruled that such a condition of the husband's surrender was unnecessary for granting bail to the appellant. Therefore, the Court modified the bail order and directed the appellant's release without insisting on the husband's prior surrender.