Special bail treatment for women is constitutionally valid and may extend even to serious offences under criminal procedure.

Article 15(3) permits special statutory provisions in favour of women and children, and that constitutional exception validates bail rules giving women special consideration. The commentary explains that a woman accused of an offence punishable with death may still be released on bail under the Criminal Procedure Code, because the provisions allow bail to women even in serious offences and confer wide discretion to impose conditions securing appearance at trial. The legal point is that gender-specific bail treatment is not inconsistent with Article 15 when it falls within the express constitutional protection for women.

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Issues: (i) Whether the special treatment accorded to women under the bail provisions was inconsistent with Article 15 of the Constitution of India; (ii) whether the petitioner, a woman accused of an offence punishable with death, was entitled to be released on bail under the Criminal Procedure Code.

Issue (i): Whether the special treatment accorded to women under the bail provisions was inconsistent with Article 15 of the Constitution of India.

Analysis: Article 15 prohibits discrimination on grounds only of sex, but Article 15(3) expressly permits the State to make special provisions for women and children. A provision that extends special consideration to women in the matter of bail is therefore within the constitutional exception and cannot be treated as repugnant to Article 15.

Conclusion: The special provision for women in the bail law was held to be constitutionally valid and not inconsistent with Article 15 of the Constitution of India.

Issue (ii): Whether the petitioner, a woman accused of an offence punishable with death, was entitled to be released on bail under the Criminal Procedure Code.

Analysis: Section 497 permits release on bail in non-bailable offences and specifically allows bail to a woman, even where the accusation is of an offence punishable with death or transportation for life. Section 498 confers a wider discretion in bail matters, and the circumstances of the case were considered sufficient to justify release on heavy bail to secure appearance at trial.

Conclusion: The petitioner was held entitled to bail and was directed to be released on furnishing personal bond and sureties.

Final Conclusion: The bail application was allowed, the constitutional objection to the special treatment of women was rejected, and the petitioner was ordered to be released pending trial.

Ratio Decidendi: Article 15(3) permits special statutory provisions in favour of women and children, and such a provision may validly be applied in bail matters to release a woman accused of a serious offence on appropriate conditions.

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