'Bail, not jail' norm can't be applied in financial scams: SC

New Delhi: Given the proliferation of financial scams through ponzi schemes, Supreme Court has ruled that conning people of their hard-earned money falls in the category of heinous crimes and that the accused in such offences cannot claim benefit of the liberty-leaning principle of 'bail is the rule and jail the exception'.

A bench of Justices Sanjay Kumar and K Vinod Chandran set aside an order of Allahabad HC that had granted bail to the main accused in a cheating-cum-forgery case - who absconded for a long period - on the grounds that his co-accused have been granted bail and it is a cheating case triable by a magistrate, thus categorising it as a non-heinous offence. "We may note that the value of life and liberty of members of society is not limited only to their 'person', but would also extend to the quality of their life, including their economic well-being," said Justice Kumar.

Justice Kumar wrote the judgment in the financial fraud case that raises the threshhold for economic offenders to get bail by putting them on a par with those charged with heinous crimes. "In offences of a pecuniary nature, where innocent people are cheated of their hard-earned money by conmen, who make it their life's pursuit to exploit and feast upon the gullibility of others, the aforestated factors must necessarily be weighed while dealing with the alleged offenders' pleas for grant of bail," he said in the judgment.

Referring to the accused person's activities of forging names and identity cards, and his intention to dupe and cheat people, the bench said this demonstrates that he is a career criminal and a menace to society. It allowed the appeal of the complainant and set aside the HC's order granting bail to the accused.

Select The Times of India as your preferred source on Google Search