The Special Court, while dismissing the bail plea of eight accused persons in the 2G case, observed that for generating a sense of security in the mind of witnesses “is to keep the accused in custody till their evidence is complete.”
On the possibility of the accused tampering with evidence or influencing witnesses, the Special Judge Mr O.P. Saini said that since this was a case of unprecedented nature, “The witnesses would be under a lot of pressure, given the serious consequences of the case for the parties.”
“This is further compounded by the fact that the witnesses are employees, relatives, family members, colleagues and subordinates of the accused. In such a situation, such apprehension is always well founded,” the court said.
Witnesses must have a sense of safety and security that no harm would come their way if they disclose the truth before the investigating agency and the court, it said.
“Witnesses cannot be left to their own fate while protecting the rights of the accused,” the court observed, adding that if the witnesses do not gather the courage to tell the truth to the court, “the truth will not come out and cause justice to suffer.”
The court also said, however, that the rights of the witnesses, victims and the accused need to be protected during trial in a balanced way to ensure fair trial and purity of justice.
The court cited several judgments to show that before granting bail to the accused, the two paramount considerations are: availability of the accused for undergoing trial/danger of the accused absconding or fleeing if released on bail as well as the possibility of the accused tampering with evidence/reasonable apprehension of them influencing/threatening witnesses.
It said the other main factors are: the seriousness of the offence, severity of punishment, character and behaviour of the accused, likelihood of the offence being repeated, and the prima facie satisfaction of the court in support of the charges against the accused.
However, all the accused had said that there was no question of them tampering with evidence or influencing witnesses.