‘Bail’ is derived from the old French verb ‘ballier’ meaning to ‘give or deliver’.

Bail has not been defined in the Code of Criminal Procedure, but the dictionary meaning of Bail is the security with securities for the prisoners’ appearance to answer the charge at a specified time and place.  The bail is the process by which a person is released from custody while the judicial release from custodial juris.

 In simple words, Bail is the process of release under the guarantee that a person arrested on a criminal charge will appear for trial for examination when duly requested if he is temporarily released.  According to Section 439(2) the code of criminal procedure, the High Court or Court of Session may direct that any person who has been released on bail under chapter XXXIII (i.e., relating to bail) be arrested and committed to custody.

Objective

The primary objective of arrest is to ensure that the accused in a criminal case appears before the court for the conveyance of justice. However, if the person’s presence can be guaranteed for the court trial without putting the person in jail, it would be unfair and unjust to violate a person’s liberty. Thus, bail can be granted as a conditional liberty to the accused.

Types Of Bail 

There are commonly 3 types of bail in India which a person can apply depending upon the stage of the criminal matter:

1. Regular Bail: A regular bail can be granted to a person who has already been arrested and kept in police custody. A person can file a bail application for regular bail under Section 437 and 439 of the CrPC.
2. Interim Bail: Interim bail is a bail granted for a short period of time. Interim bail is granted to an accused before the hearing for the grant of regular bail or anticipatory bail.

Anticipatory Bail: A person who discerns that he may be arrested by the police for a non-bailable offense, can file an application for anticipatory bail. It is like an advance bail obtained under Section 438 of the Cr PC. A bail under Section 438 is a bail before arrest and a person cannot be arrested by the police if the anticipatory bail has been granted by the court.

Conditions For Bail In Bailable Offenses

Section 436 of the CrPC lays down that a person accused of any bailable offense under the IPC can be released on bail.  Bailable offenses under the IPC include unlawful assembly (Section 144 of CrPC), payment of bribe during elections, fabrication of false evidence, sale of poisonous food or drink knowingly, participation in riots, being armed with deadly weapon, furnishing false information, threat of injury to public servant, selling adulterated drug, selling obscene book, causing death by negligence (Section 304A), stalking, criminal defamation, etc.

However, there are certain conditions on which a bail can be granted in case the person is arrested or is likely to be arrested for a bailable offense:

1. There are sufficient reasons to believe that the accused has not committed the offense.
2. If, as per the court, there is sufficient reason to conduct further enquiry in the matter.
3. The person is not accused of any crime for which is punishable with death, imprisonment for life or imprisonment up to 10 years.

Conditions For Bail In Non-Bailable Offenses

An accused does not have the right to apply for bail in case of a non-bailable offense. The power to release a person on bail in a non-bailable offense lies with the court. Section 437 of the CrPC lays down the power of court to grant a bail to a person even in a non-bailable offense.

Non-bailable offences under the I.P.C include sedition, waging or attempting to wage war against the government, counterfeit of Indian currency, adulteration of drug, murder (Section 302), culpable homicide not amounting to murder (Section 304), dowry death (Section 304B), abatement of suicide, abetment of suicide, abduction of child under 10, trafficking of person, rape (Section 376), cruelty by husband or his relatives (Section 498A), etc. The conditions on which the court grants a bail in a non-bailable offense are as follows:

1. If the accused is a woman or child, bail can be granted in a non-bailable matter.
2. If there is a lack of adequate evidence, the court can grant a bail in non-bailable offense on discretion.
3. If there is a delay in registering the FIR by the complainant.
4. If the person accused is physically or gravely sick.
5. If there is some corroboration as to personal animosity between the accused and the person who filed the criminal matter.

Cancellation Of Bail

The court has the power to cancel a bail granted even at a later stage. The power of the court is laid down under Section 437(5) and 439(2) of the CrPC. The court can cancel the bail granted by it and give directions for the arrest of the person in police custody. However, the court does not have the power to cancel a bail granted by a police officer.