Supreme Court sets aside MP High Court order on bail for murder convicts
Bench: Tree planting and social service cannot replace evidentiary considerations for suspension of sentence
The Supreme Court has set aside a Madhya Pradesh High Court order that suspended the life sentence of two men convicted of murder on the condition that they plant trees and serve a social cause. The bench comprising Justices Aravind Kumar and NV Anjaria held that such reasoning, which substitutes community service like plantation of saplings for proper legal grounds, is unsustainable in law.
The High Court had granted bail after the convicts agreed to “purge their misdeeds” through environmental service and maintainably planting tall saplings, submitting progress reports, and providing proof of their ongoing community efforts. The Supreme Court called this approach appalling and emphasized that suspension of sentence must be based on evaluation of the merits and evidence, not extraneous considerations.
While setting aside the High Court’s order, the Supreme Court directed that the accused shall not be taken into custody until two interlocutory applications pending before it are decided, highlighting that evidentiary criteria, rather than social service conditions, should guide bail decisions in serious cases like murder.