Apex court’s reminder: Bail is the rule, jail is exception even in stringent laws like UAPA

In an important intervention, the Supreme court of India has reminded the courts that bail is the rule and its denial should be an exception. It stated that when there is a case of granting bail, there should be no hesitation, as denial of bail is against the rights of citizen and violates the freedom that is guaranteed under the constitution.

That the direction comes from the top court of the country, when there are incidents about students, youth, middle-aged and elderly activists, even journalists charged under the harsh law and lodged in bail for months and years, is important.

From Siddiq Kappan to journalist Prabir Purkayastha, so many student leaders, human rights activists and people from diverse backgrounds have suffered due to this law.

Earlier this year, the government said that over 5,000 cases under UAPA were registered from 2018 to 2022.

In all, around 8,947 people were arrested and 6,503 named in charge sheets.

In 2021, 814 cases were registered. The figure jumped to 1,005 in 2022. 2022. However, there is more to it than registration of cases .

Nod was given to prosecute author Arundhati Roy and leading activists, scholars, many political parties expressed surprise over the move to prosecute her.

Prof. Hargopal, retired professor, said that the law should be scrapped due to low percentage of prosecution.

Also, he calls it a law that is undemocratic, tries to stop democratic dissent and he terms it as a repressive law.

If, after arrest, it takes 3-4 years for trial to start, this punishment of long periods of detention, and remaining behind bars, is seen as a ‘power’.

Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) gives the power to police that it can arrest without evidence.

Hence, the numbers keep going up. In 2020, 796 cases were registered. Then it increased to 814 in 2021.

In 2022, number of UAPA cases crossed 1,000 in the country— 1,005 to be precise. These three years saw over 2,600 cases registered all over the country.

In this period, maximum number of cases were in Jammu and Kashmir.

Subsequently, in the year 2022, most cases were from Jammu Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, Assam & Manipur. Conviction rate is low but process becomes punishment.

Retired cop Jalaluddin Khan was booked under UAPA & on his bail plea, SC noted that the material presented before court, did not show his involvement.

The special court & HC didn’t give bail to him earlier. On the ground level, the affect has to be seen in coming days. Till now, cases saw ‘jail’ as a rule because it’s a law to tackle those involved in offence against state.

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Impact on fate of prisoners
There are multiple aspects to the issue, even as hopes are generated that there would be relief & justice will be served. The lawyers too don’t take interest in taking up these cases because of the nature of statute. Once UAPA is slapped, the person’s family finds it difficult to get an advocate.
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This makes it different than other criminal cases. Activists, human rights workers and media have highlighted that the police have often misused UAPA in many cases.