Back in 1977, when Justice VR Krishna Iyer of Supre Court while granting bail in a two-page order to a 27-year-old man from Rajasthan had written 12 words without any idea that they would proceed to turn into a milestone in the criminal jurisprudence in India. He had said, “The basic rule may perhaps be tersely put as bail, not jail”. Since then it has been popularly termed as “bail, not bail”.
Last Monday, a Supreme Court bench headed by Justice MM Sundresh and Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul expressed the need to use Justice VR Krishna Iyer’s historical words. They said that the arrest was a draconian measure which is a restriction in liberty and should be taken into effect judicially.
Though both the judgments of 1977 and 2022 establish the same principles, but the liberty of individual is supreme and any fundamental right should never be curtailed until very necessary.
Last month, when Nupur Sharma moved to Supreme Court and appealed to merge all the FIRs against her together, she was not aware that huge criticism was on her way. She even faced criticism from Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Surya Kant for her remarks against Prophet Mohammed and questioned her why she was not arrested till then.
They further said that, Nupur Sharma’s “loose tongue had set the country on fire” and she was “single-handedly responsible for what was happening”. They even said she should apologise to the whole country on national television.
Now, Sharma has filed a new petition in the apex court seeking to revive her earlier petition of merging all the FIRss and also protection against arrest as demands for her arrest have also been made in the FIRs. In her new petition she also mentioned that death and rape threats against her have also increased since SC’s remarks against her.
The controversy was further fuelled after the remarks of Justice Pardiwala and Justice Kant against Sharma. However, they were heavily criticised by bureaucrats, former judges and retired armed forces personnel saying that the judges had “crossed the Lakshman Rekha” while criticising the leader in question.
After Nupur Sharma’s new petition, all eyes are on the two judges who are set to hear the petition today on urgent basis. Her petition to merge all the FIRs together is taken on the ground that there is a threat to her life.
