The Supreme Court has said that parity is not the sole ground on which bail can be granted to an accused in criminal cases, despite the 'Bail is the rule, and jail, the exception' principle followed by courts for granting relief.
A bench of Justices Sanjay Karol and N. Kotiswar Singh, which set aside the bail granted to the accused in a murder case by the Allahabad High Court just because the co-accused were granted bail, said on Tuesday (December 1, 2025) that relief of bail cannot be granted without due regard to the circumstances involved in the alleged offence for which the accused person has been arrested.
Criminal past alone cannot be a ground to deny bail, says Supreme Court judgment
"Bail has often been stated to be the rule, and jail, the exception. This cannot be emphasised enough. At the same time, this, however, does not mean that the relief of bail is to be granted without due regard to the circumstances involved in the alleged offence for which the accused person has been arrested.
"In this regard, it has to be noted that a court, while granting bail, has to consider a number of aspects. Judgments too many to count, delivered by this court, have delineated the relevant considerations to be kept in mind," the top court said in its November 28 verdict.
