New Delhi: The Supreme Court Monday came down heavily on Odisha courts for imposing “regressive”, “degrading” and “abhorrent” bail conditions like asking the accused, especially those belonging to Scheduled Tribes, to clean police stations and set them aside.
The court declared the “obnoxious” bail conditions imposed by the Orissa High Court and upheld by a lower sessions court as “null and void.”
A bench consisting of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi urged all courts in the country to avoid imposing such terms in the future, stating that these orders reflect a deep-seated caste-based bias that undermines the constitutional promise of a casteless society.
The top court had taken suo motu cognisance of the bail conditions imposed by the Orissa High Court and district courts there in a case in which members of the Adivasi and Dalit communities were held after protesting against land acquisition by a corporate entity.
The conditions required accused persons, primarily from Dalit and Adivasi communities, to clean police stations for several months.
Expressing “disappointment and heartbreak” over the orders, the CJI noted that such measures are being enacted 76 years after India gained independence.
“Unfortunately, the high court, as well as some district courts, while granting bail in Odisha, are imposing conditions which are obnoxious and bring a bad name to the image of the judiciary,” he said.
The bench addressed the facts of a specific case where forty individuals were arrested, and some received bail from the Odisha High Court. It noted that unprecedented conditions, like cleaning police stations for two months, were enforced.
“In another order, the high court, while granting bail to a petitioner, a similar order was passed … It has been rightly reported that it exposes bias of the judiciary since the accused belongs to a marginalised community and thus justified to subject them to such burdensome requirements,” the CJI stated.
The bench pointed out that such conditions were not applied to wealthier defendants.
“The nature of conditions is so cruel and abhorrent that it has the capacity to project the Odisha judiciary as caste-biased. The most inalienable gift by the people through the Constitution was a casteless society through substantive equality. The judiciary as sentinel quivive que is expected to protect such rights. In the 75 years of constitutional journey, the judiciary has ensured that the might of the State cannot undermine the rights of the people,” he said.
The bench expressed its “deep disappointment and disheartenment” and conveyed its “strong disapproval” of the regressive mindset displayed by the state’s judiciary, which violates human rights and the dignity of those accused.
“We declare such conditions and any other similarly worded condition imposed by the state judiciary as null and void. Let the petitioners approach the high court to forthwith delete such conditions and not substitute it with any other analogous condition,” the bench ordered, clarifying that the accused would remain on bail.
The court stated that all state judiciaries should refrain from imposing conditions that carry caste implications, which can lead to social discord. “Thus, let this order be made available to all judicial officers across the country, not to impose such conditions,” the bench said.
The bench noted that between May 2025 and January 2026, six such bail orders were issued by a local trial court, all imposing similar conditions.
“It has been widely reported that such conditions reflect unarticulated bias of Odisha premised on the assumption that individuals belong to Adivasi communities and therefore it would be justified to subject them to such burdensome requirements,” it noted.
The bench emphasised that even if these conditions were imposed without outright bias, their nature was so distasteful and degrading that it raised serious doubts about the presence of caste-based discrimination in the Odisha judiciary.
In its ruling, the bench cited various judgments affirming that the law must provide just, fair, and reasonable procedures, thereby incorporating substantive due process into the constitutional framework.
They reiterated their strong disapproval of the degrading conditions imposed by the Odisha judiciary, which are fundamentally violative of constitutional rights.
The bench also issued “omnibus directions” to all courts in Odisha to eliminate such offensive conditions from their orders and avoid substituting them with other onerous requirements.
“The accused shall continue to remain in bail and shall be deemed to have been relieved of the conditions,” it said.
It also directed the apex court registry to circulate the order to all High Courts across the country.
“Each high court shall ensure that a copy of this order is sent to each judicial officer in its jurisdiction, accompanied by a communication that such conditions shall not be imposed while granting bail,” it said.
The top court asked the registrar of the Odisha High Court to comply with the order in four weeks.
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