The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted bail to Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren’s aide and said the legal principle “bail is the rule and jail the exception” applies even in cases under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
The top court granted bail to Prem Prakash, an alleged aide to Hemant Soren, in a PMLA case, while setting aside the judgment of the High Court.
The Supreme Court said it relied on its judgment in Manish Sisodia’s case where the AAP leader was granted bail in the alleged Delhi liquor policy scam.
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“Relying on the judgment in Manish Sisodia, we have said that even in PMLA, bail is a rule and jail the exception. Liberty of the individual is always the rule and deprivation, by procedure established by law, the exception,” a bench of Justices BR Gavai and KV Viswanathan said.
A bench of Justices B R Gavai and K V Viswanathan said that section 45 of the Act, which lays down twin conditions for bail, does not rewrite the legal principle to mean that deprivation is the norm and liberty is the exception.
The court also said that confessions made by an accused under the Act to an investigating officer will not ordinarily be admissible as evidence and will be hit by the bar imposed by section 25 of the Indian Evidence Act to their admissibility.
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The court expressed the view that making such statements admissible as evidence will be unfair and go against all canons of justice.
The court clarified that it will have to be seen on a case-to-case basis whether Indian Evidence Act section 25 will apply.