Anticipatory bail conditions must be reasonable and workable; an excessive deposit requirement can be struck down as denial of relief.

Conditions attached to anticipatory bail under Section 438 CrPC must be reasonable and capable of compliance; an onerous or impossible condition can effectively amount to denial of relief. The Supreme Court held that requiring deposit of an FDR of Rs. 15 lakhs as a precondition for anticipatory bail was unreasonable and not warranted on the facts. The impugned condition was set aside, and anticipatory bail was made available subject to substituted conditions imposed by the Court.

---

---

Issues: Whether the condition imposed while granting anticipatory bail, requiring deposit of Rs. 15 lakhs in the form of FDR, was an unreasonable condition liable to be set aside.

Analysis: Section 438 of the Code of Criminal Procedure empowers the court to impose conditions while granting anticipatory bail, but the conditions must be reasonable and capable of compliance. A condition that is onerous or impossible to fulfil amounts in substance to denial of the relief itself. On the facts, the deposit requirement of Rs. 15 lakhs was held to be unreasonable and not warranted as a condition precedent for anticipatory bail.

Conclusion: The impugned condition was set aside, and the appellant was held entitled to anticipatory bail subject to the substituted conditions imposed by the Court.

---