Tamil Nadu’s Director General of Police-cum-Head of Police Force (DGP/HoPF) Shankar Jiwal has instructed all unit officers under his control across the State to monitor whether accused persons who obtain bail in criminal cases, comply with bail conditions scrupulously, and to take steps to get the bail cancelled if there were any violations.
The DGP’s instruction has come days after State Public Prosecutor Hasan Mohamed Jinnah wrote to the HoPF impressing upon the need for follow-up action after accused persons obtain bail, and to ensure that the liberty granted to them is cancelled if they indulge in other offences, tamper with evidence or threaten witnesses.
A circular memorandum issued by the DGP pointed out that Section 437(3) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (Cr.P.C.) prescribes certain mandatory conditions to be imposed by the courts while granting bail to accused persons who had been booked for offences punishable with imprisonment for seven years or more.
Those conditions state that the accused persons should not be involved in similar offences, not induce or threaten any person connected with the case or tamper with evidence. The legal provisions also makes it clear that the courts can impose any other condition as they deem necessary.
The provision had been retained as Section 480(3) even in the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 proposed to replace the Cr.P.C., with effect from July 1 this year. Further, the Supreme Court in P.K. Shaji versus State of Kerala had made it clear that even Judicial Magistrates could cancel bail granted by the High Courts and Sessions Court.
Therefore, the DGP instructed all investigating officers to keep a watch on accused persons who had been enlarged on bail, and get their liberty curtailed if they had violated any conditions.
