On January 9 the Bombay High Court released the Kochhars on bail so that they could make arrangements for their only son’s wedding on January 15. The HC lambasted the Central Bureau of Investigation for arresting the hi-fi couple four years after an FIR in an alleged loan fraud. The two judges termed it as “unacceptable” and added that “personal liberty of an individual is an important aspect of our constitutional mandate. Merely because an arrest can be made because it is lawful, does not mandate that arrest must be made....if arrests are made in a routine manner, it could cause incalculable harm to the reputation and self-esteem of a person.” We wish that the police do not arrest anybody just because it is permitted by law and that all the courts follow the above example and set free the thousands of hapless and innocent people who are languishing in jails and have lost their respect and self-esteem.
