Anticipatory bails are issued prior to the arrest of a person. It is also called a pre-arrest bail. It is mentioned under Section 438 of the Code of Criminal Procedure as 'grant apprehending arrest'.
The concept of Anticipatory bail comes into place when the accused may rightfully fear arrest in cases of congnizable offences. Bail is a legal relief that a person may be entitled to in order to get temporary freedom until his case is disposed of. Depending on the gravity of the allegations, a person may be able to avoid arrest altogether.
The right to liberty is the natural right and also the fundamental right of an individual. However, a person has to respect the rights of others recognized by law like the inviolability of their body and their property. When a person is reasonably suspected to have committed an offence the machinery of law is set in motion to arrest him and to bring him to trial and punish him if found guilty. The act of arrest deprives a man of his liberty. Bail sets him free on securing his promise to take trial at a future date and to undergo punishment if found guilty.
Ambit and scope of Anticipatory Bail
For Anticipatory Bail, Section 438 empowers a High Court and a Court of Session to grant anticipatory bail. It is not as if bail is presently granted by the court in anticipation of arrest. But is means that in the event of arrest, a person shall be enlarged on bail.
Condition for Anticipatory Bail
- A condition that the person shall make himself available for interrogation by a police officer as and when required.
- A condition that the person shall not, directly or indirectly, make any inducement, threat or promise to any person acquainted with the facts of the case so as to dissuade him from disclosing such facts to the court or to any police officer.
- A condition that the person shall not leave India without the previous permission of the Court.
- Such other condition as may be imposed under Sub-Section (3) of section 437, as if the bail were granted under that section.
- Anticipatory Bail was introduced in the Code to prevent violation of personal liberty of a person. No person can be deprived of his personal liberty and can be detained unnecessarily. But utmost care should be exercised by the Courts while granting it so as to prevent the abuse of this special privilege.
