Bond of accused and sureties

Accused assailed order passed by Sessions Judge whereby he, while granting bail, had directed the accused to furnish solvent surety in the shape of Special Saving Certificate

Prayer made by the accused through the revision application was that instead of furnishing surety in the shape of a Special Saving Certificate he might be allowed to furnish surety in the shape of papers/documents relating to agricultural land

Validity

Section 499, Cr.P.C., contemplated execution of bond with sureties and not a cash deposit

Neither S. 499 nor S. 513 of the Code contained anything which authorized the court of its own accord to insist on the deposit of a sum of money as surety in the place of a bond

Such demand for cash surety was illegal

Revision application was allowed and the impugned order to the extent of depositing Rs.1,00,000/- in the shape of a Special Saving Certificates only was set aside and the accused was ordered to be released on furnishing solvent surety in the amount of Rs. 1,00,000.

Such satisfaction must always be reasonable one because demand of improbable or huge amount may result in frustrating the purpose and object of a release order because failure of surety in producing the accused or payment of fine (surety) amount never operates as a bar upon the Courts to compel the attendance of accused by adopting permissible coercive measures.

Object of calling upon the accused to furnish the surety was not to penalize him but to ensure his presence before Trial Court.