Reasonable bail conditions must not be onerous when sentence is suspended and liberty is at stake.

Conditions attached to suspension of sentence and bail must be fair, reasonable and proportionate, even where the conviction arises under the Negotiable Instruments Act. Applying Sections 357 and 389 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and the requirement to protect personal liberty under Article 21, the Court held that an appellate court may impose terms, but not terms so harsh as to effectively deny bail. On the facts, the direction to deposit one-fourth of the fine was found onerous and was modified to a deposit of 10% of the fine as the pre-condition for release on bail.

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Issues: Whether the condition imposed by the appellate court requiring deposit of one-fourth of the fine amount as a pre-condition for suspension of sentence and release on bail was excessive and liable to be modified.

Analysis: The application arose from a conviction under the Negotiable Instruments Act where the appellate court had granted bail subject to deposit of a substantial portion of the fine. The Court considered the scheme of Sections 357 and 389 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and the settled principle that, while an appellate court may impose terms when suspending sentence, such terms must be fair, reasonable and not so harsh as to amount to denial of bail. Reliance was placed on the principle that conditions attached to suspension of sentence must not be arbitrary or onerous, and that personal liberty under Article 21 requires a judicially balanced approach. Applying that principle, the Court found the deposit condition to be excessive in the facts of the case.

Conclusion: The condition requiring deposit of one-fourth of the fine amount was held to be onerous and was modified so that only 10% of the fine amount would be deposited as the pre-condition for release on bail.

Ratio Decidendi: A court may impose conditions while suspending sentence and granting bail, but such conditions must remain reasonable and cannot be so onerous as to effectively deny the statutory relief of bail.

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