In Re: Policy Strategy for Grant of Bail

ITEM NO.34 COURT NO.4 SECTION PIL-W

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS

SUO MOTO WRIT PETITION(CRIMINAL) No(s). 4/2021

IN RE POLICY STRATEGY FOR GRANT OF BAIL Petitioner(s)
VERSUS
Respondent(s)

[ONLY IA NO. 317864/2026 AND IA NO. 317866/2026 IS LISTED UNDER THIS ITEM]
IA No. 317866/2026 - CLARIFICATION/DIRECTION
IA No. 317864/2026 - INTERVENTION/IMPLEADMENT

Date : 04-11-2026 This matter was called on for hearing today.

CORAM : HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE M.M. SUNDRESH
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE PRASANNA B. VARALE

For Petitioner(s) : By Courts Motion Mr. Gaurav Aggarwal, Sr. Adv.(Amicus Curiae)
For Respondent(s) : Mr. P. I. Jose- 1206, AOR Mr. Atul Arvind, Adv. Mr. Dr. Mahesh Y Reddy, Adv. Mr. Darshan Chandrakant Siddarkar, Adv. Mr. Varun Prasad, Adv. Mr. Rashika Kapoor, Adv. Mr. Ravinder Kumar Yadav- 1919, AOR Mr. Kanhaiya Singhal- 2342, AOR Mr. Gaurav Dhama, Adv. Mr. Karan Sharma- 3081, AOR Mr. Mukesh K. Giri- 1134, AOR Mr. Mandaar Mukesh Giri, Adv. Mr. Pranjal Kumar, Adv. Mr. Kunal Chaudhary, Adv. Mr. Arunabh Chowdhury, Sr. A.A.G. Mr. Vishnu Sharma, Standing Counsel, Adv. Ms. Madhusmita Bora, AOR Mrs. Anupama Sharma, Adv. Mr. Akshay Girish Ringe- 2334, AOR Ms. Asmita Singh, AOR Mr. K.M.nataraj, A.S.G.(not present) Mr. Piyush Beriwal, Adv. Mr. B.K. Satija, Adv. Ms. Mrinal Elkar Mazumdar, Adv. Mr. Mukesh Kr.verma, Adv. Mr. Neeraj Kr.sharma, Adv. Ms. Indira Bhakar, Adv. Mr. Varun Chugh, Adv. Mr. Bhuvan Kapoor, Adv. Mr. Vatsal Joshi, Adv. Mr. Krishna Kant Dubey, Adv. Mr. Shashwat Parihar, Adv. Mr. Shreekant Neelappa Terdal- 909, AOR Mr. Raghav Sharma, Adv. Mr. Anuj Udupa, Adv. Mr. Sarthak Karol, Adv. Mr. Mili Joy Baxi, Adv. Mr. Arjun Garg, AOR Ms. Arushi Kulshrestha, Adv. Ms. Mrinmoyee Das, Adv. Mr. Mukesh Kumar Maroria- 2324, AOR Mr. Shiv Mangal Sharma, A.A.G. Mr. Shivansh B. Pandya, Adv. Ms. Nidhi Jaswal- 2955, AOR Mr. Avneesh Arputham, Adv. Mr. Ankit Sharma, Adv. For M/S. Arputham Aruna And Co- 867, AOR Mr. Amit Sharma, AOR Mr. Dipesh Sinha, Adv. Ms. Pallavi Barua, Adv. Ms. Aparna Singh, Adv. Mr. Amit Sharma, A.A.G. Mr. Surjeet Singh Ga, Adv. Mr. Harmeet Singh Ruprah- 2308, AOR Mr. Abhinav Shrivastava, Adv. Mr. Apoorv Shukla- 2830, AOR Mr. Kedar Nath Tripathy- 1749, AOR Mr. Gopal Jha, AOR Mr. Shreyash Bhardwaj, Adv. Mr. Sawan Datta, Adv. Ms. Shireesha Sharma, Adv. Ms. Shreya Singh, Adv. Mr. Saurabh Singh, Adv. Mr. Guntur Pramod Kumar- 2788, AOR Ms. Prerna Singh, Adv. Mr. Dhruv Yadav, Adv. Mr. Partha Sil, AOR Mr. Utkarsh Dwivedi, Adv. Mr. Srijit Datta, Adv. Ms. Rashmi Nandakumar, AOR Ms. Yashmita Pandey, Adv. Ms. Devina Sehgal, AOR Mr. Yatharth Kansal, Adv. Mr. Shuvodeep Roy- 1672, AOR Mr. Saurabh Tripathi, Adv. Mr. Deepayan Dutta, Adv. Mr. Chirag Kr. Golchha, Adv. Mr. Divyakant Lahoti- 2188, AOR Ms. Madhur J., Adv. Mr. Uddyam Mukherjee- 2680, AOR Ms. Vishakha- 3831, AOR Mr. Utkarsh Raj Sahay, Adv. Mr. Abhishek Atrey- 1601, AOR Mr. Vikas Negi, Adv. Ms. Vidyottma Jha, Adv. Mr. Brijesh Kumar, Adv. Mr. Jagdeep Sharma, Adv. Mr. V Balachandran, Adv. Mr. Siddharth Naidu, Adv. For M/S. Ksn & Co.- 2147, AOR Ms. Enakshi Mukhopadhyay Siddhanta- 2656, AOR Ms. Nidhi Mittal- 3800, AOR Mr. Sarad Kumar Singhania- 1594, AOR Mr. Ahanthem Henry, Adv. Mr. Ahanthem Rohen Singh, Adv. Mr. Mohan Singh, Adv. Mr. Aniket Rajput, Adv. Ms. Khoisnam Nirmala Devi, Adv. Mr. Yeshu Mehta, Adv. Mr. Tanay Hegde, Adv. Mr. Kumar Mihir, AOR Mr. Amit Pai, AOR Ms. Pankhuri Bhardwaj, Adv. Ms. Bhavana Duhoon, Adv. Ms. Ananya Mehrotra, Adv. Ms. Patil Rekha Chandra Gouda- 3361, AOR Mr. Pukhrambam Ramesh Kumar, AOR Mr. Karun Shamra, Adv. Ms. Anupama Ngangom, Adv. Ms. Rajkumari Divyasana, Adv. Mr. Debojit Borkakati- 2102, AOR Mr. Avijit Mani Tripathi- 2648, AOR Mr. Z.h. Isaac Haiding, Adv. Mr. Daniel Stone Lyngdoh, Adv. Ms. Marbiang Khongwir, Adv. Ms. Preeti Sehrawat, Adv. Mr. Mohammad Aslam- 3269 , AOR Mr. Milind Kumar- 1566, AOR Mr. Shekhar Raj Sharma, A.A.G. Mr. Samar Vijay Singh- 2093, AOR Ms. Nidhi Narwal, Adv. Ms. Srishti Jain, Adv. Mr. Vikrant Malwal, Adv. Ms. Sabarni Som, Adv. Ms. Shubhra Singh, Adv. Mr. Sahil Tagotra, AOR Ms. Shreya Kasera, Adv. Mr. Rakesh Talukdar, Adv. Mr. Abhishek Pandey, Adv. Mr. Bharat Bagla, Adv. Mr. Siddharth Dharmadhikari, Adv. Mr. Aaditya Aniruddha Pande- 3259, AOR Mr. Shrirang B. Varma, Adv. Mr. Sanjai Kumar Pathak, AOR Mrs. Shashi Pathak, Adv. Mr. Arvind Kumar Tripathi, Adv. Ms. Anamika Mishra, Adv. Mr. Ashwarya Sinha- 2084, AOR Mr. Sameer Abhyankar- 2516, AOR Mr. Aakash Thakur, Adv. Mr. Aryan Srivastava, Adv. Ms. Yachna Sharma, Adv. Ms. Disha Singh- 3175 , AOR Ms. Eliza Barr, Adv. Ms. Akansha, Adv. Ms. Anjali Saxena, Adv. Mr. Govind Sharma, Adv. Mr. Saanil Patnayak, Adv. Mr. Shibashish Misra- 1398, AOR Mr. Manav Sabharwal, Adv. Ms. Shivangi Gupta, Adv. Mr. Harshad V. Hameed- 2127, AOR Mr. Mrigank Prabhakar, AOR Ms. Sakshi Banga, Adv. Ms. Charvi Reddy, Adv. Ms. Swati Ghildiyal, AOR Ms. Deepanwita Priyanka, Adv. Ms. Neha Singh, Adv. Mr. Adarsh Dubey, Adv. Mr. Dhirendra Kumar Mishra, Adv. Mr. Md. Sheikh Khalid Saifullah, Adv. Ms. Shanta Pandey, Adv. Mr. Balajee D. Kotgire, Adv. Mr. Rameshwar Prasad Goyal- 1350, AOR Mr. Aravindh S.- 2008, AOR Mr. Vansh Malik, Adv. Mr. Shovan Mishra- 2456, AOR Ms. Bipasa Tripathy, Adv. Mr. Shlok Luthra, Adv. Mr. Shivansh Bharatkumar Pandya- 3124 , AOR Mr. Chanchal Kumar Ganguli- 1285, AOR Mr. V. K. Biju- 2002, AOR Mr. Bhakti Vardhan Singh- 2454, AOR Ms. Sindoora Vnl- 3122, AOR Ms. Alika Priya, Adv. Mr. Varinder Kumar Sharma, AOR Mr. Piar Singh Rana, Adv. Ms. K. Enatoli Sema, AOR Mr. Amit Kumar Singh, Adv. Ms. Chubalemla Chang, Adv. Mr. Prang Newmai, Adv. Ms. Yanmi Phazang,, Adv. Mr. Gurmeet Singh Makker- 2357, AOR Mr. Akshay Amritanshu, AOR Mr. Sarthak Srivastava, Adv. Mr. Utkarsh Rai, Adv. Mr. Atharve Tiwari, Adv.

UPON hearing the counsel the Court made the following

[NyayVidhan note: this order is recorded in the record of proceedings; there is no separate signed order. Only IA Nos. 317864/2026 and 317866/2026 were listed under this item. Paragraphs 1-10 carry the Court's numbers. The lists of counsel are given on one line for each side, as printed. The digital-signature block (dated 06.11.2026) and page numbers are left out.]

[Source: Supreme Court of India, api.sci.gov.in — order dated 4 November 2026.]

O R D E R

IA NO.317864/2026 AND IA NO.317866/2026:

1. The learned counsel appearing for the petitioner(s) submits that spanning across 20 districts, there were 264 under-trial prisoners who have been granted bail. They could not be released for want of execution of sureties, and other conditions imposed by the concerned Trial Courts.

2. Mr. Pradeep Mishra, the learned Senior counsel appearing for the State of Uttar Pradesh (U.P.) submits that out of 264 under-trial prisoners, only 158 have been released and an appropriate decision will be taken with respect to 106 prisoners.

3. The learned counsel appearing for the National Legal Services Authority (‘NALSA’) submits that periodical reviews have been undertaken every month with the active participation of the District Legal Services Authorities. The cases which have not been dealt with, would be added in the meeting which is to be convened next month. That is the reason why there are still 106 under-trial prisoners who are yet to be released.

4. The learned Senior counsel appearing for the petitioner(s) further submitted that the statistics available are only with respect to 20 districts, and therefore, the said exercise has to be undertaken for the remaining 55 districts.

5. The learned Senior counsel appearing for the State of U.P. submits that the needful would be done within a reasonable time.

6. Taking note of the submissions made, we direct the State of U.P to undertake the exercise for the under-trial prisoners who have been granted bail but could not be released for want of compliance of conditions of bail, in consultation with the respective District Legal Service Authorities.

7. This direction shall be applicable even to those under-trial prisoners who could not comply with the bail conditions, despite the fact that they have engaged the private lawyers. There cannot be any differentiation between the under-trial prisoners, who have the assistance of District Legal Services Authority and those who have engaged private counsel.

8. The fact remains that both the categories are similar with respect to non-compliance of the bail conditions imposed. Merely because the private lawyers have been engaged, the assistance from the District Legal Services Authority counsel cannot be denied and also the benefit that has been extended to such of persons who have already been rendered assistance by the District Legal Services Authorities. Litigation cannot be adversarial in that sense. Therefore, notwithstanding the presence of counsel appearing for the accused person who have been granted bail, further assistance can be rendered by the District Legal Services Authorities to them. In any case, the onus lies on the State to make sure that these persons are released from custody. We also request the concerned Courts to take up those cases which were brought into notice by the respective District Legal Services Authorities and modify the condition(s) suitably, so that the under-trial prisoners can be released accordingly.

9. List on 20.01.2027.

10. Needless to state that the aforementioned directions shall apply to all the under-trial prisoners spanning across 75 districts.

(SWETA BALODI) ASTT. REGISTRAR-cum-PS
(POONAM VAID) ASSISTANT REGISTRAR