The Supreme Court has granted bail to Udhaw Singh, an accused in a money laundering case, highlighting the excessive time he has spent in custody and the slow pace of the trial. Singh had been detained for 14 months, with only one out of 225 prosecution witnesses examined so far.
A bench comprising Justices Abhay S. Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan ruled that prolonged incarceration, especially under stringent laws like the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), could infringe upon the right to a speedy trial under Article 21 of the Constitution. The decision aligns with past rulings in Union of India v. K.A. Najeeb and V. Senthil Balaji v. Deputy Director, Directorate of Enforcement, where the Court emphasized that courts have a duty to ensure that strict laws do not lead to indefinite detention without trial.
Interestingly, the Court also distinguished this case from a recent ruling in Assistant Director v. Kanhaiya Prasad, where bail was revoked due to non-fulfillment of the stringent twin conditions under Section 45 of the PMLA. The Supreme Court clarified that the circumstances in Kanhaiya Prasad were different—the accused in that case had been in custody for less than seven months and there was no indication of unreasonable trial delays.
The Enforcement Directorate had opposed Singh’s bail, citing Kanhaiya Prasad, but the Court rejected the argument, stating that the precedents in Najeeb and Senthil Balaji remained applicable when trial delays were evident. With this clarification, the Court paved the way for Singh’s release, ruling that extended detention without trial cannot override constitutional protections.