MARGAO
Asserting that bail is a rule and jail an exception, except in heinous cases, Justice Bharat Deshpande of the High Court of Bombay at Goa on Saturday said courts normally grant bail in most cases keeping in mind the principle that the criminal justice system works for the betterment of the victim as well as the crime suspect.
He was delivering the third lecture of the 'GRK Judiciary Talks', hosted by Govind Ramnath Kare College of Law, Margao, and was speaking on the topic 'Arrest, Bail and key elements of the Criminal Justice System'.
“While considering the request for bail, the court has to consider the possibility of the accused fleeing from trial and also the probability of the accused influencing the victim of the crime and/or threatening the core witnesses,” he said.
He added: “There are cases wherein, after the grant of bail, the accused visits the victim and/or the witnesses and tries to threaten them. This adversely impacts the justice delivery system, and as such, often in heinous crimes, the courts are reluctant to grant bail to the accused."
Justice Deshpande also highlighted the fact that advocacy is a tool to help people through legal services. He cautioned that even though we can take assistance and help of technology, we should not be its slaves.
Speaking on the occasion, Adv Parijat Pande, Chairman of the Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa, said that good ethics have to be passed by one generation to the next generation. He said that ethics in the law profession would mean a duty towards the litigant, toward the court and the judge and also towards the opponent. He said that the legal system should work with a human touch and added that when a person becomes a trial court lawyer, he would be able to understand the pain of every citizen of the society.
The lecture was followed by declaration of prizes of the State Level Poster Making Competition on the theme 'Child Abuse', organised by District Legal Services Authority, South Goa, in association with GRKCL, Margao. The prize winners were declared by Sarika Nilesh Faldessai, Secretary, District Legal Services Authority, South Goa. Assistant Professor Ashmita Naik compered the programme.
Others present on the dais were Nitin Kunkolienkar, President of Vidya Vikas Mandal, Adv Pritam Morais, First Vice President of Vidya Vikas Mandal, and Dr Maria Goretti Simoes e Morais, Officiating Principal of G R Kare College of Law.
