Srinagar, Oct 05: If a court grants bail, it cannot then impose conditions so heavy that the accused can never actually walk free. That is the essence of a significant ruling by the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh in Srinagar, which has held that bail conditions must be reasonable, proportionate and should not be so onerous as to frustrate the very benefit of bail.
Justice Sanjay Parihar passed the directions while hearing a petition filed by Mohammad Malood through his friend against the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir through the Station House Officer, Police Station Nowgam. The petitioner had been granted bail by the trial court vide order dated August 3, 2026. However, he challenged conditions requiring him to furnish two sureties as well as deposit cash security of Rs 1 lakh.
During the hearing, counsel for the petitioner, Saleem Gul and Umar Mushtaq, submitted that the simultaneous requirement of two sureties and cash security was unduly burdensome and had effectively deprived the petitioner of the benefit of the bail order.
The counsel submitted that the petitioner was ready to furnish two local sureties but sought deletion of the requirement to deposit Rs 1 lakh as cash security.
The High Court, after considering the submissions, held that once an accused has been found entitled to the concession of bail, the conditions imposed for his release must be reasonable and have a nexus with the purpose of securing his presence during trial and preventing misuse of liberty.
“Such conditions ought not to be so onerous as to render compliance difficult or illusory and thereby frustrate the very order granting bail,” the court observed.
Justice Parihar noted that while a trial court is empowered to impose appropriate conditions while granting bail, such conditions must remain proportionate to the object sought to be achieved.
“In the present case, once the petitioner has been required to furnish two sureties, the additional requirement of depositing cash security of Rs 1 lakh appears unduly onerous,” the court held. The court further observed that insisting upon both requirements would create an unnecessary impediment to the petitioner’s release and could render the benefit of the bail order “nugatory”.
Accordingly, the High Court modified the August 3 bail order and directed that the petitioner be released from custody upon furnishing two local sureties of Rs 1 lakh each and a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh, to the satisfaction of the trial court.
The trial court has also been directed to verify the identity and antecedents of the sureties in accordance with law.
The petitioner will have to remain present before the trial court on every date of hearing unless his personal appearance is specifically exempted.
The High Court deleted the condition requiring the petitioner to deposit Rs 1 lakh as cash security, while directing that all other conditions imposed by the trial court would remain in force, provided they are not inconsistent with the High Court’s order.
The petition was accordingly disposed of.
