Senior advocate writes to CJI, demanding mandatory review mechanism for bail denials

Dr. Ajay Kummar Pandey, Supreme Court advocate and founder & managing partner of 4C Supreme Law International, on Monday written to Chief Justice of India (CJI) Justice Surya Kant, urging the establishment of a mandatory institutional review mechanism for bail denials and the creation of structural safeguards to protect judicial officers who apply constitutional principles in granting bail.

The letter from the senior advocate, copies of which were sent to the Prime Minister, Union Ministers for Law & Justice and Home Affairs, and senior officials of the Supreme Court and Bar Council, came against the backdrop of an acute undertrial crisis in India, where approximately 5.5 lakh persons remain in custody as undertrials, representing 76 per cent of the total prison population.

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A crisis acknowledged at the highest level

Dr. Pandey’s letter highlights a systemic distortion in India’s bail adjudication framework: judicial officers who grant bail face institutional scrutiny, while those who deny it — even when the law mandates release — face no review whatsoever. This inverted incentive structure, he argues, is unconstitutional and directly violates Article 21 of the Constitution.

Former chief justice Dr. D Y Chandrachud has publicly acknowledged that the fear of scrutiny drives judges to deny bail and leave corrective intervention to appellate courts — a problem that results in approximately 70,000 bail applications reaching the apex court annually, matters that should ideally be resolved at the magistrate level.

commending recent Supreme Court initiatives

Dr. Pandey expressed appreciation for several progressive steps taken recently by the Supreme Court, including the appointment of retired judges as ad hoc Judges of the Allahabad High Court under Article 224A, the Bench’s directions to Registrar Generals of all High Courts to submit detailed pendency reports on bail matters, and the recent order in SLP (Crl.) No. 1613 of 2026 — Sunny Chauhan vs. State of Haryana — has once again highlighted the urgent need for expeditious consideration of bail matters.

Five-point reform proposal

Dr. Pandey has placed before the CJI the following specific reform proposals:

1. Automatic Institutional Review: Bail denial orders to be automatically placed before the District Judge for review after 60 days (offences punishable up to 7 years) or 90 days (offences punishable beyond 7 years) of custody.

2. Quarterly Bail Pattern Audits: High Courts to conduct periodic audits of bail denial patterns to ensure consistent application of constitutional safeguards.

3. Dedicated Fast-Track Bail Benches: Designation of specialized bail benches in High Courts for time-bound disposal, particularly for vulnerable categories and under trial prisoners beyond statutory custody periods.

4. Institutional Safeguards for Judicial Officers: Clear guidelines to protect judicial officers who grant bail based on sound legal reasoning and established precedent from unwarranted scrutiny.

5. National Committee on Bail Reform: Constitution of a national-level committee under the Supreme Court’s supervision to study bail denial trends, develop uniform guidelines, monitor reform implementation, and submit periodic review reports.

“We have created a system in which following the Constitution is dangerous, while violating it is safe. Where the process has become the punishment. We must review what we are getting wrong, not punish people for getting it right. The undertrial crisis will not resolve itself — it requires deliberate institutional reform,” he wrote.