Supreme Court Reiterates: Bail is the Rule, Jail is the Exception, Even in PMLA Cases
A bench of justices, including BR Gavai and KV Viswanathan, said that even in special law cases such as the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, aka PMLA, "bail is the rule, jail is the exception."
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On Wednesday, the principle of "bail is the rule, jail is the exception," was reiterated by the Supreme Court while granting bail to Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren's aide, Prem Prakash, in illegal mining cases registered by the Enforcement Directorate.
The bench, led by Justices BR Gavai and KV Viswanathan, made it clear that the PMLA's stringent provisions should not be misused to deny bail to the accused individuals. The court cited Section 25 of the Indian Evidence Act, which states that confessions made to the police are not admissible as evidence. This means that statements made by the accused during custody cannot be leveraged as the sole basis for denying bail.
“The liberty of an individual is always the rule and deprivation is the exception. S.45 PMLA, by imposing twin conditions, does not rewrite this principle to mean that deprivation is the norm and liberty is the exception,” the Supreme Court stated.
The latest ruling came as the top court granted bail to Mr. Prem Prakash, an alleged aide of Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, overturning the High Court's previous decision. In fact, it is also expected that the verdict will have far-reaching implications for cases under the PMLA.
