Criminal Law
Antecedents alone cannot justify cancelling bail
What the Court held
In Abhimanue v. State of Kerala, a Bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Augustine George Masih restored bail to accused persons whose bail the Kerala High Court had cancelled. The Court held that the criminal antecedents of an accused, on their own, are not a sufficient ground to cancel bail that has already been granted.
When bail can be cancelled
Cancelling bail is different from refusing it. Once granted, bail is ordinarily cancelled only where the accused has misused the liberty, by tampering with evidence, influencing witnesses, or breaching conditions. Concerns of that kind, the Court noted, can often be met by imposing stricter conditions rather than returning a person to custody. Antecedents, without fresh misconduct after release, do not by themselves meet that test.
This note is general information on the law as at the date shown, not legal advice on any specific matter. The law changes; for advice on your facts, please speak to the firm.
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