What is bail? Describe the procedure as to how a bail is granted under the administration to criminal justice system in Bangladesh. What are the different stage involved in granting a bail?

Introduction

Bail is an important part of the legal system. It allows an accused person to be relieved from the custody if the police or proper authority in exchange of some monetary item. In the criminal law system of Bangladesh, there are different types of offences. For some of the offences there is a granted relieve from the jail until the court decision of the case. These types of offences are known as bailable offences. And there are some other types of offences for which the accused person will not be relieved from the jail or custody of the police. If the person is relieved from the custody the court might add some other conditions that the accused person has to fulfill in order to enjoy the bail. These crimes or offences are known as non-bailable offences.

Bailable and Non-bailable Offences

Criminal procedure code has under s.4(b) categorized offences as bailable and non-bailable. The offences under each of the heads have been specified in the Schedule to the code.

  1. Bailable Offences:

Section 496 of Criminal Code of Procedure provides that in the case of bailable offences the person accused has an indefeasible right to grant of bail subject of course to satisfactory sureties being offered, if sureties are considered necessary. The provisions of the section are mandatory, and the court or officer in charge of the police station is bound to release the person in custody who is accused of a bailable offence, on bail, provided he is prepared to give it, or on recognizance’s. However, section 496 will not apply when an accused person is convicted of an offence.[1]

  1. Non-bailable Offences:

In the case of a non-bailable offence, a court may, while granting bail to the accused, impose conditions other than fixing of bail for the attendance of the accused, and such conditions will not be illegal.[2]

 What is Bail?

Traditionally, bail is some form of property deposited or pledged to a court to persuade it to release a suspect from jail, on the understanding that the suspect will return for trial or forfeit the bail (and possibly be brought up on charges of the crime of failure to appear). In some cases bail money may be returned at the end of the trial, if all court appearances are made, regardless of whether the person is found guilty or not guilty of the crime accused. If a bondsman is used and a surety bond has been obtained, the fee for that bond is the fee for the insurance policy purchased and is not refundable.[3]

In some countries granting bail is common. Even in such countries, however, bail may not be offered by some courts under some circumstances; for instance, if the accused is considered likely not to appear for trial regardless of bail. Legislatures may also set out certain crimes to be not bailable.[4]

For our country, When any person other than a person accused of a non-bail able offence is arrested or detained without warrant by an officer-in-charge of a police station or appears as is brought before the court, and is prepared at any time while in the custody of such officer or at any stage of the proceedings before such court to give bail, such person shall be released on bail under section 496 of criminal procedure, 1898.[5]

In other words, bail refers to an amount of money, bond or other valuable item that can be seized by the government if the accused person breaks the conditions of the release. Bail is given to people so that they can stay outside the jail until the processing of the case is done.

Describe the procedure as to how a bail is granted under the administration to criminal justice system in Bangladesh.

The accused person will appoint a learned lawyer by will through his/her tadbirkar. Then the appointed lawyer will prepare a petition and put up before the concerned judicial court to hearing. When the GRO received the bail petition, he will put up the respective case file and submit the same to the concerned judicial magistrate court for conducting the bail under section 496 of the criminal procedure. At the fixed time, the appointed lawyer will appear before the court and the court will hear the petition. Then the judicial magistrate court will concern and may grant the bail of the accused person.[6]

The example[7] of a bail petition is given below:

Bail Petition

In the Court of the Sub-Divisional Judicial

Magistrate at ……………

The State  ……………………

versus

1.                   AB

2.                   CD

3.                   EF

4.                   GH

Case—under section 188, IPC; section 116, Cr PC; section 29, Police Act; section 151, Cr PC

The humble petition of the accused persons named-above

MOST RESPECTFULLY SHEWETH:

1.       That your petitioners were arrested by ………… Police under  section 151, Cr PC on 5th May 2000 at 3 P.M. and were kept in the lock up in the police station and the bail offered by your petitioners was refused by the police.

2.       That your petitioners have been produced before Your Honour this day and they have been charged under section 188, IPC.

3.       That the offences mentioned in the paragraph 2 above are all bailable.

Under the circumstances, your petitioners pray that they be released on bail pending the disposal of the case.

And your petitioners, as in duty bound, shall ever pray.

Advocate                                                                                                  AB, CD, EF & GH

Verification

We, AB, CD, EF and GH, sons of MN, by occupation business, residents of ………………………, do hereby solemnly affirm and say as follows:

1.                   We are the petitioners above-named and know the facts and circumstances of the case.

2.                   The statements made in paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 of the foregoing petition are true to our knowledge and belief.

3.                   We sign this verification on 15th May 2000.

Solemnly affirmed by AB, CD, EF                                                                        AB

and GH on 15th May 2000 at the                                                                         CD

Court House at ……………                                                                                 EF

GH

Before me

Notary/Magistrate

 Guiding principles of granting a bail[8]

As a general rule bail should be withheld as punishment unless the facts warrant such course. The matters of consideration in an application for bail may be enumerated as follows:

  • Whether there is or is not a reasonable ground for believing that the applicant has committed the offence with which he is charged;
  •  The nature and gravity of the charge;
  • Severity of degree of the punishment which might fall in the particular circumstances in case of a conviction;
  • The danger of the applicant’s absconding if he is released on bail
  • The character and means and standing of the applicant;
  • The danger of the alleged offence being continued or repeated, assuming that the accused is guilty of having committed that offence in the past;
  • The danger of witness being tampered with;
  • Opportunity of the applicant to prepare his defense; and
  • The fact that the applicant has already been some months in jail and that the trial is not likely to conclude for several months at least.

 What are the different stages involved in granting a bail?

            There are different stages involved in granting bail. The stages are discussed below.

(1)   The accused person will appoint a lawyer for defending the bail petition.

(2)   The bail petition will be put up before the honorable court for consideration.

(3)   The concerned appointed lawyer will be appeared in the court for hearing the petition on behalf of the accused person.

(4)   If the court considers the petition and grants the bail, the appointed lawyer will submit bail bond.

(5)   The bail bond should be signed by the concerned judicial magistrate. After that the police authority will release the accused person on bail.

(6)   The accused person on bail should be present before the concerned court on the fixed date, if the accused person is unable to be present on the fixed date before the court, the court may cancel the bail.

(7)   If the lower court does not consider the bail of the accused person, the accused person can appear before the high court division for bail under section 498 of the criminal procedure.[9]

 Conclusion

          In conclusion, bail is an important part of the legal system. Throughout this research I have gone over the major aspects of the bailment process and mentioned a few of the ways they can be misused. I have tried to explain briefly the meaning of bail and different categories of offences. When the court grants a bail of an accused person, it is necessary to look after the conditions if the accused person is bailable or not. If the court grants a bail to someone who might do the same crime again then the bail will be misused and the person will freely do whatever he wants to do. On the other hand if a person who has not done any crime is not granted a bail then it would be very much bad for that person because that person might go to jail and get connected with the crime world. So the Judge would have to be very careful while taking his decision of granting or not granting a bail.

Bibliography

 (Interview with Advocate Mohammad Nurul Islam Mollah, criminal lawyer, Judge court, Dhaka, Bangladesh)

 (Bail; Retrieved November 13, 2011,from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bail)

 (Explore the bailment process. What are the ways they can be misused; Retrieved November 13, 2011, from http://www.lawyersnjurists.com/resource/articles-and-assignment/explore-the-bailment-process-what-are-the-ways-they-can-be-misused-2/)

 (Bail petition; Retrieved November 13, 2011, from http://www.lawyersnjurists.com/resource/legal-documentations-litigations/conveyancing-legal-documentations-litigations/conveyancing-drafting-and-deed-by-desouzas/bail-petition/)

[3] Bail, retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bail

[4] Bail, retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bail

[5] Advocate Mohammad Nurul Islam Mollah, Judge court, Dhaka, Bangladesh

[6] Advocate Mohammad Nurul Islam Mollah, Judge court, Dhaka, Bangladesh

[9] Advocate Mohammad Nurul Islam Mollah, Judge court, Dhaka, Bangladesh