Chief Justice of the country DY Chandrachud was asked about the delay in hearing the bail plea of former JNU student Umar Khalid, who is jailed in the Delhi riots case. When asked this question, he said that many cases can be quite different from what is shown in the media. A judge uses his mind while hearing a case and decides on its merits without any bias.
Speaking at an Indian Express Group event, CJI Chandrachud said that a particular case becomes important in the media and then the court is criticized for that particular case. He said, ‘After taking charge as CJI, I decided to prioritize bail issues as far as personal freedom is concerned. It was decided that each bench of the Supreme Court should hear at least 10 bail cases. 21,000 bail cases were filed before the Supreme Court between November 9, 2022 and November 1, 2024. During this period, 21,358 bail cases have been resolved.
901 money laundering cases resolved – CJI
The CJI said that of 967 cases registered for money laundering during the same period, 901 were resolved. He said: ‘A dozen political cases involving prominent people have been granted bail in recent months. Often the media presents a particular aspect of a case. When a judge examines a case record, what emerges may be very different from the media’s image of the merits of that particular case. The judge focuses on the relevant issues and then decides the case.
Bail from A to Z – CJI
CJI Chandrachud said, ‘If I talk about myself, I have given bail to everyone from A to Z (from Arnab Goswami to Zubair) and this is my philosophy. The principle that “bail is the rule and jail is the exception” should mainly be followed, but it has not yet reached the trial court.
