Criminal Procedure Code, 1973
Section 438—Grant of anticipatory bail by High Court imposing pre-condition of deposit/payment of cheated amount—Appeal—Inclusion of a condition for payment of money by applicant for bail tends to create an impression that bail could be secured by depositing money alleged to have been cheated—Tests for grant of anticipatory bail are well delineated and stand recognized by passage of time—Apex Court has deprecated in no uncertain terms the practice of imposing pre-condition of paying an alleged cheated amount to get anticipatory bail—In exceptional cases such as where an allegation of misappropriation of public money by the accused is levelled and the accused while seeking indulgence of the court to have his liberty secured/restored volunteers to account for the whole or any part of the public money allegedly misappropriated by him, it would be open to the concerned court to consider whether in the larger public interest the money misappropriated should be allowed to be deposited before the application for anticipatory bail/bail is taken up for final consideration—High Court fell in grave error in proceeding on the basis of undertaking of appellant and imposing payment of amount as a condition precedent for grant of bail—Impugned order of High Court granting bail with imposition of impugned condition is set aside and matter remitted to the High Court for consideration afresh. [Indian Penal Code, 1860, Section 420]
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