Supreme Court Holds Bail Principles for Heinous Crimes Equally Applicable to Serious Economic Offences

The Supreme Court said bail principles used in heinous offences should also apply to serious economic offences because such crimes harm citizens’ economic well-being and quality of life.

It set aside an Allahabad High Court (Lucknow Bench) order that had granted bail to an accused described as a habitual financial offender, holding that the High Court wrongly relied mainly on parity without weighing relevant factors like the accused’s role, antecedents, and risk of repeating offences.

The Court noted allegations of large-scale cheating and forgery, use of multiple aliases and fake IDs, and absconding conduct.

The appeal was allowed and the bail order was reversed.

[Rakesh Mittal v. Ajay Pal Gupta, alias Sonu Chaudhary & Anr.]