Courts free to grant pre-arrest bail: Supreme Court

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has said that courts still had the power to grant pre-arrest bail in cases related to atrocities committed against Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes if prima facie there existed no material to warrant arrest. A threejudge bench led by Justice Arun Mishra said courts could also quash the charges in such circumstances.

The bench upheld the government amended Act but said it must be interpreted in a manner consistent with its ruling in the Lalita Kumari case which mandated police to file immediate FIRs in all cases involving cognisable offence as soon as it gets information about such a case. A cognisable offence is where a police officer can arrest an accused without warrant.

However, in a separate but concurring judgment, Justice Ravindra Bhatt of the same bench said courts must use the power to grant pre-arrest bail sparingly to prevent miscarriage of justice or abuse of the process of law. “Such stringent terms, otherwise contrary to the philosophy of bail, is absolutely essential because a liberal use of the power would defeat the intention of Parliament,” Justice Bhatt said. Unless the law was enforced in law and spirit, the dream of a casteless society would remain a mirage, he said.


The ruling came on a petition which challenged the SC/ST antiatrocities Act which was amended to override a SC verdict which had said a preliminary enquiry and sanction from a competent authority was necessary before registering an FIR in such cases.

A bench of Justices AK Goel and UU Lalit had then said that it was necessary to prevent misuse of law. The issue led to protests and agitations by Dalit groups which said that it would render the anti-atrocities law toothless. The government then sought a review of the ruling leading to the SC recalling the verdict. Today, Justice Arun Mishra clarified that the police could still hold a preliminary enquiry in all cases involving cognisable offences.