Rajasthan High Court Emphasises Reformative Aspect Of Criminal Justice, Grants Temporary Bail To NDPS Accused To Care For Pregnant Wife

While denying regular bail to an NDPS accused, Rajasthan High Court granted a temporary bail of 60 days to take care of his wife who was pregnant, due to deliver a baby in a few days, and had no one else to take care of her and provide medical assistance.

The bench of Justice Farjand Ali opined that even though such ground in itself was not sufficient to warrant regular bail, temporary bail could be granted as a balanced approach to accommodate legitimate personal concerns of the accused, while upholding legal sanctity and custodial process.

The Court opined that owing to the seriousness of allegations, gravity of offence under NDPS act, and the sufficiency of prima facie material supporting prosecution case, regular bail could not be granted.

However, it was observed that on humanitarian dimensions of criminal jurisprudence, temporary bail was not alien to the scheme of criminal law, the objective of which was reformative and not punitive.

It was highlighted that in the Supreme Court cases of Rakesh Kumar v State of NCT of Delhi and Tulsidas v State of Maharashtra, it was recognized that in appropriate cases, where compelling personal, familiar or humanitarian grounds were established, Courts were competent to grant bail for a limited duration, even while denying regular bail.

In this background, the Court, it was observed,

“In the present case, wife of the petitioner is pregnant and expected to deliver child within a few days and there is no other member in the family to take care and provide medical assistance to her, therefore, his presence is urgently required with his family due to certain compelling domestic circumstances… Thus, this Court finds that a balanced approach—one which upholds the legal sanctity of the custodial process while also accommodating legitimate personal concerns—is warranted. The objective of criminal justice is not merely punitive but reformative and humane.”

Accordingly, the petitioner was released on bail for a period of 60 days.

Title: Bhawani Pratap Singh v State of Rajasthan

Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (Raj) 211

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