In Re: Condition Being Imposed While Granting Bail by High Court of Orissa and District Courts in the State of Odisha - Caste Colored Bail Conditions
Bail Conditions - Caste-coloured and oppressive conditions- Bail orders of the Orissa High Court and subordinate courts that required Adivasi and Dalit accused, arrested during protests against Vedanta’s mining project, to clean police station premises for two months as a condition of bail. The Supreme Court held that such conditions areabhorrent, degrading, caste‑coloured, unknown to law and violative of human dignity and equality, and declares them null and void while directing that the accused will remain on bail without these terms. The Court further directs that this order be circulated to all High Courts so that no judiciary in the country imposes such or similar humiliating conditions while granting bail, and it calls for a compliance report from the Registrar General of the Orissa High Court.
Case Info
Basic Case Details
Case name: In Re: Condition Being Imposed While Granting Bail by High Court of Orissa and District Courts in the State of Odisha and
Coram:Hon’ble the Chief Justice Surya KantHon’ble Mr. Justice Joymalya Bagchi
Judgment/order date: 04 May 2026(Expressly mentioned at the end of the signed order: “NEW DELHI; MAY 04, 2026.”)
Case Law / Judicial Precedents Cited
- E.P. Royappa v. State of Tamil Nadu, AIR 1974 SC 555
- Maneka Gandhi v. Union of India, 1978 AIR 597
Statutes / Constitutional Provisions Referred
The order refers to offences in the underlying bail matters and to constitutional provisions, even though the merits of those criminal cases are not decided here. The following are specifically named:
- Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (BNS)
- Sections: 191(2), 191(3), 285, 333, 126(2), 121(2), 132, 109(1), 351(3), 125(a), 326(g), 324(5), 74, 190
- Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, 1984
- Section 4
- Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 1932
- Section 7
- Constitution of India
- Article 14
- Article 15
- Article 16
- Article 17
Three‑Sentence Brief Summary
This suo motu criminal writ petition arises from bail orders of the Orissa High Court and subordinate courts that required Adivasi and Dalit accused, arrested during protests against Vedanta’s mining project, to clean police station premises for two months as a condition of bail. The Supreme Court holds that such conditions are abhorrent, degrading, caste‑coloured, unknown to law and violative of human dignity and equality, and declares them null and void while directing that the accused will remain on bail without these terms. The Court further directs that this order be circulated to all High Courts so that no judiciary in the country imposes such or similar humiliating conditions while granting bail, and it calls for a compliance report from the Registrar General of the Orissa High Court.