In trial court's bail order for Arvind Kejriwal, a nod to Benjamin Franklin

Delhi’s Rouse Avenue court cited Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud’s speech at an event while granting bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the liquor policy case on Thursday. The court also highlighted the necessity of expediting court procedures as well as the rights of undertrials.

The special CBI Judge Nyay Bindu referenced the Chief Justice’s address at the CBI Day celebration, during which he highlighted the challenging tasks undertaken by trial court special judges handling CBI and Enforcement Directorate cases.

The judge, in the now-paused bail order, noted that the Supreme Court and the CJI have been encouraging trial courts to expedite the judicial process in such matters.

The court said, “This is the call of the day that the government authorities and the Higher Courts want to reduce the pendency of cases and to expedite the proceedings”.

Justice Bindu added that both the top court and the High Courts have been emphasising to trial courts the importance of considering the constitutional rights of undertrials.

The court also quoted the words of American statesman Benjamin Franklin: "It is better that 100 guilty persons should escape than that one innocent person should suffer," and stressed that this principle cannot be ignored.

According to the court, this principle imposes a duty not only to prevent guilty individuals from escaping justice but also to ensure that no innocent person is punished.

“There have been thousands of cases where the accused have undergone long-lasting trial and agony resulting from the same until they were acquitted by the court for being innocent. Unfortunately, the mental and physical agony of such individuals cannot be compensated in any manner whatsoever,” noted the bail order.

The special court bench also cited the words of Lord Chief Justice of England, Lord Hewart: "Justice should not only be done but should be seen to be done." “If an accused has undergone the atrocities of the system until his innocence is realised, then he could never conceive that 'JUSTICE' has actually been done in his favour,” the order noted.

However, the Delhi High Court stayed the trial court's order granting bail to Kejriwal. The court stated that it was reserving the order for 2-3 days as it wanted to review the entire records.

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