Default bail conditions must remain reasonable; oppressive financial requirements may be modified to preserve the liberty the relief is meant to secure.

Conditions attached to default bail must remain reasonable and cannot be so onerous that they defeat the liberty the bail is intended to secure. The Court noted that default bail protects personal liberty when investigation is not completed within the prescribed time, and held that a very high bank guarantee and surety burden could practically nullify that relief where the accused lacked the means to comply. The impugned conditions were therefore modified by deleting the requirement of furnishing a bank guarantee/FDR of Rs. 40 lakhs, while retaining reasonable personal and surety bonds.

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Issues: Whether the conditions imposed while granting default bail were so harsh and oppressive that they defeated the benefit of default bail and required modification.

Analysis: Default bail is intended to secure personal liberty where the investigation is not completed within the prescribed period, but the efficacy of that relief may be undermined if the imposed conditions are beyond the accused's financial capacity. The Court distinguished the reliance placed on the earlier decision on default bail, noting that the factual setting there did not involve a challenge to bail conditions on the ground that they were oppressive and incapable of compliance. Accepting the statement made on instructions that the petitioner lacked the financial means to satisfy the modified conditions, the Court held that the insistence on a very high bank guarantee and surety burden would practically curtail the benefit of bail.

Conclusion: The impugned bail conditions were held to be harsh, oppressive and exploitative to that extent, and were modified by deleting the requirement of furnishing the bank guarantee/FDR of Rs. 40 lakhs while retaining reasonable personal and surety bonds.

Final Conclusion: The petitioner was granted partial relief by reduction of the financial burden attached to the default bail, so that the bail benefit could operate effectively without defeating personal liberty.

Ratio Decidendi: Conditions attached to default bail must remain reasonable and not be so onerous as to nullify the liberty intended by the grant of bail, especially where compliance is shown to be beyond the accused's means.

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