CFB214 | Fundamentals of Bail

This is a clinical course on Bail, where students will do a deep-dive into the fundamental principles of bail, learn about the different kinds of bail including anticipatory pre-arrest bail, post-arrest bail, bail under special statutes etc. Students will examine the different types of bail along with the substantive and procedural aspects surrounding the grant, rejection, and cancellation of bail. This course is sure to complement the core non-elective courses on Criminal Law offered by the University, by giving students a window into one of the most important and contentious facets of criminal law.

This is designed as a Clinical Course, which along with some theory into the core writings and case law on bail, will provide students with the experience of drafting bail applications, give them case materials, and allow them to strategize on how bail applications are filed and decided. Students will be asked to draft bail and cancellation of bail applications for given fact scenarios and where possible, will also get to work with case materials.

The course aims to equip students with the theoretical and practical foundations of bail law in India and will also explore bail law in other jurisdictions to nudge students to search for global solutions to problems concerning reform of bail law in India. Since the new criminal laws, particularly the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, are likely to be notified around the same time as the commencement of this course, this course aims to analyse the law on bails in this context as well.

This course is a standalone course, and will be a great supplement to the foundational courses on criminal law. The primary readings are judgements and case law of the Supreme Court and High Courts and secondary readings would be commentaries and articles on the themes.