‘Bail not jail’ norm cannot be applied to financial scams: SC | India News

NEW DELHI: In view of the proliferation of financial scams through Ponzi schemes, the Supreme Court has ruled that defrauding people of their hard-earned money is a heinous crime and the accused of such crimes cannot enjoy the freedom-leaning principle of “bail is the rule and imprisonment is the exception”. A bench of Justices Sanjay Kumar and K Vinod Chandran dismissed an Allahabad High Court order allowing bail to the long-absconding main accused in the cheating-cum-forgery case on the grounds that his co-accused was already out on bail and it was a cheating case heard by a magistrate, therefore classifying it as a non-serious offence. “We may note that the value of life and liberty of members of society is not limited to their ‘persons’ but extends to their quality of life, including their economic well-being,” Justice Kumar said.Justice Kumar wrote the judgment in the financial fraud case, raising the bar for bail for economic offenders, treating them on par with those accused of heinous crimes. “In crimes of a pecuniary nature, where innocent persons are defrauded of their hard-earned money by con artists who make it their lifelong pursuit to exploit the gullibility of others, the above factors must be weighed when dealing with an alleged offender’s request for bail,” he said in his judgment.Referring to the defendant’s forgery of his name and identity card, as well as his intention to deceive and deceive others, the judge said this showed that he was a career criminal and a danger to society. It allowed the complainant’s appeal and set aside the High Court order granting bail to the accused.