Bail:
Grant of bail – By High Court – To the accused charged for
offences u/ss. 143, 147, 148, 120-B, 341, 427, 323, 324, 326,
506(H), 201, 202, 153A, 212, 307 and 149 IPC; u/s. 3 of Explosive
Substances Act, 1908 and ss. 16, 18, 18-B, 19 and 20 of Unlawful
Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 – On the ground that the undertrial-
accused could not be kept in custody for too long when the trial
was not likely to commence in near future – By setting aside the
order of Special Court who had declined to grant bail to the accused
primarily in view of the bar against grant of bail u/s. 43-D(5) of
Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act – Appeal to Supreme Court –
Held: The liberty guaranteed by Part III of the Constitution would
cover within its protective ambit not only due procedure and fairness
but also access to justice and speedy trial – Undertrials cannot
indefinitely be detained, pending trial – Once it is obvious that a
timely trial would not be possible and the accused has suffered
incarceration for a significant period of time, courts would ordinarily
be obliged to enlarge them on bail– The statutory restrictions per se
do not oust the ability of Constitutional Courts to grant bail on
grounds of violation of Part III of the Constitution – Such statutory
restrictions and the powers exercisable under constitutional
jurisdiction can be harmonised – The restriction u/s. 43-D(5) under
Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act is less stringent than the
restriction provided under s. 37 of NDPS Act – The accused in the
present case has been in jail for more than five years; none of the
convicted thirteen co-accused have been sentenced for more than
8 years RI and that 276 witnesses are left to be examined – In the
facts of the case, High Court was left with no other option, but to
grant bail – However, in addition to the conditions to be imposedby the trial Court while releasing the accused on bail, some more
conditions are imposed – Appeals are dismissed.