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Jaipur: Former Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud on Sunday, January 18, said that national security cannot be an umbrella justification for denying bail, adding that bail before conviction is a matter of right.

He made the remarks at the ongoing Jaipur Literature Festival in response to a question from senior journalist Vir Sanghvi, who raised the issue of the Supreme Court recently denying the bail plea of activist Umar Khalid in the 2020 Delhi riots conspiracy case.

Khalid and fellow activist Sharjeel Imam have been incarcerated since 2020. Denying bail to both, the top court on January 5 observed that they were involved in the “planning, mobilisation and strategic direction” of the northeast Delhi riots.

Faced with the question from Sanghvi during a session titled ‘Ideas of Justice’, Justice Chandrachud (retired) said, “Bail before conviction should be a matter of right. Our law is based on a presumption, and that presumption is that everyone is innocent until proven guilty.”

“Because, if someone remains an undertrial prisoner for five or seven years and is finally proven innocent, how will you compensate for the time lost?”

Giving examples from various cases, the former CJI said that bail can be denied if there is a possibility of the accused returning to society and committing the crime again, tampering with evidence, or using the benefit of bail to escape the clutches of the law.

“If these three grounds are not present, then bail must be granted. I think that where national security is involved, it is the court’s duty to examine the case in depth. Otherwise, what is happening is that people remain imprisoned for years,” he said.

Justice Chandrachud termed the denial of bail by sessions and district courts a matter of concern and said judges fear that their integrity might be questioned. “This is the reason why bail cases reach the Supreme Court,” he said.

Expressing concern over the delay in disposal of cases by the Indian criminal justice system, he said the Constitution is the supreme law, and there is no concrete exception in the matter. “If there is a delay in a speedy trial, the accused is entitled to bail.”

During Chandrachud’s tenure, Umar Khalid’s bail plea filed in 2023 in the Supreme Court was deferred several times and adjourned over 10 times. It was later withdrawn in February 2024, with Khalid citing a change of circumstances.

(With inputs from PTI)