The Supreme Court of India has made a significant decision by lifting a bail condition that required an accused individual to deposit ₹50 lakhs for their release. This condition had been initially imposed by the Madhya Pradesh High Court in January 2021, leading to nearly three years of the accused person’s incarceration. A bench comprising Justices S Ravindra Bhat and Aravind Kumar found that this condition had unjustly extended the individual’s detention.
The Supreme Court recognized that the charge sheet had been filed, and the trial had already commenced. Given these circumstances, the apex court directed the release of the accused person on bail without the burdensome ₹50 lakh deposit requirement.
This decision resulted from an appeal filed by the accused individual, Mohanlal Maliwad. Advocates Sarvam Ritam Khare, Jayasree Narasimhan, and Akash Shukla represented the accused, while the Madhya Pradesh government was represented by Government Advocate Abhimanyu Singh, along with advocates Bhagwan Jee Thakur and Pashupathi Nath Razdan.
In essence, the Supreme Court’s ruling underscores the importance of upholding an individual’s right to liberty, particularly when a trial is ongoing, and the accused has already spent a considerable period in custody.