Can courts impose conditions when granting bail for bailable offences under Section 387?

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Courts Cannot Impose Conditions on Bail for Bailable Offences Under Section 387

The prevailing legal interpretation, as elucidated in the Supreme Court case PP v Dato’ Mat Safuan [1991], establishes that courts are not empowered to impose conditions when granting bail for bailable offences under Section 387 of the Criminal Procedure Code. This is because Section 387 grants the accused an absolute right to bail upon fulfilling the required bail sum, leaving no room for judicial discretion to attach conditions.
Right to Bail in Bailable Offences

When an individual is charged with a bailable offence, Section 387 of the Criminal Procedure Code dictates that they are entitled to be released on bail as a matter of right. This means that once the accused is prepared to provide the necessary bail, the court is obligated to grant it and has no discretion to refuse. The law is clear that this entitlement is fundamental and does not permit discretionary withholding of bail.
Absence of Discretion Precludes Conditions

The legal principle derived from PP v Dato’ Mat Safuan is that the power to impose conditions on bail is intrinsically linked to the court's discretion to refuse bail. Since Section 387 provides no discretion to withhold bail for bailable offences, it logically follows that there is no corresponding power to impose conditions. The judgment in Rex v Genda Singh & Ors [1950] All ER 525 further supports the view that where bail is a right, conditions cannot be imposed.
Contrast with Non-Bailable Offences

In contrast, Section 388 of the Criminal Procedure Code deals with non-bailable offences, where police officers or the court may exercise discretion in granting bail. Indian legal authorities, as referenced in the PP v Dato’ Mat Safuan case, suggest that this discretion to grant or refuse bail for non-bailable offences implies a discretion to grant bail subject to certain conditions. This distinction highlights that the ability to impose conditions is tied to situations where judicial discretion exists.
Application in Recent Cases

The application of this principle was notably discussed in relation to a case involving a charge under Section 295 of the Penal Code, which is a bailable offence. Despite the offence being bailable, the court reportedly granted bail with specific conditions, including passport surrender and periodic reporting to the police. This scenario, however, appears to deviate from the established legal interpretation that conditions cannot be imposed on bail orders for bailable offences under Section 387, as it implies a discretion that the law, as interpreted in PP v Dato’ Mat Safuan, does not grant in such instances.

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Can courts impose conditions when granting bail for bailable offences under Section 387?

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