SC to decide whether a bail condition to drop location to the IO throughout bail is valid, matter posted for October

The Supreme Court bench was hearing a money laundering case of Rs. 3269.42 crores related to SBFL (Shakti Bhog Foods Limited) bank loan fraud. Raman Bhuraria (internal auditor of SBFL) is the alleged mastermind in this money laundering case. Today, the top Court was hearing the ED’s (Enforcement Directorate) challenge against the decision of the Delhi High Court that granted bail to Raman Bhuraria. The accused was arrested in August 2021 and the High Court granted him bail in February 2023 with certain conditions as well as asked the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) to proceed with the investigation. Among six conditions, one condition was “The applicant shall drop a Google pin location from his mobile phone to the IO concerned which shall be kept operational throughout his bail.” While hearing the matter today, the top Court strongly objected to this bail condition and said whether such a condition can be imposed under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution. The bench added, “What kind of conditions have been passed? See this - Google pin drop location. Totally surveillance. We will have to see if this can even be allowed. Issue notice, returnable on October 3. We will not be canceling the bail (for now).” Justice AS Oka and Justice Sanjay Karol issued a notice and posted the matter for October 3, 2023. SV Raju, Additional Solicitor General, submitted that in this case, the accused should not have been granted bail. The bench then decided to consider whether such a condition where an individual has to send his/her location to the Investigation Officer is valid under Article 21 or not. The other bail conditions include:

• “The applicant shall furnish a personal bond in the sum of Rs. 50,000/- each with surety in the like amount, to the satisfaction of the trial Court;”
• “The applicant shall not leave the country and if the applicant has a passport, he shall surrender the same to the trial Court;”
• “The applicant shall furnish to the IO/SHO concerned his cellphone number on which the applicant may be contacted at any time and shall ensure that the number is kept active and switched on at all times;”
• “The applicant shall not indulge in any act or omission that is unlawful, illegal or that would prejudice the proceedings on pending cases, if any;”
• “The applicant shall join investigation as and when directed by the IO and will appear in court as and when required.”

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