Supreme Court Pulls Up Courts Over ‘Degrading’ Bail Conditions On Marginalised Accused

The Supreme Court of India has strongly criticised the imposition of bail conditions that required accused individuals from marginalised communities to perform cleaning duties at police stations, declaring such directives unlawful.

Acting on its own initiative after media reports, a Bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi issued broad instructions to courts in Odisha to immediately discontinue the practice.

The court clarified that such conditions lack a legal basis and therefore do not apply.

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In its observations, the Bench described the conditions as deeply troubling, noting that they reflected a prejudiced approach. It stated that imposing such requirements was degrading in nature and raised concerns about possible caste-based bias within the judicial process.

The court also emphasised the foundational legal principle that the law presumes an accused person is innocent unless proven guilty. It expressed concern that certain judicial officers had effectively treated individuals from Adivasi communities as guilty at the stage of bail, thereby placing unjust and inhumane burdens on them.

The Supreme Court declared the practice invalid and directed that future proceedings must not impose such conditions.

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