Umar Khalid has right to speedy trial, bail should be the rule: DY Chandrachud

Former Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud addressed one of the most contentious bail debates in recent years by invoking the case of Omar Khalid, who has spent nearly five years in jail without trial.

Speaking at the Jaipur Literature Festival in conversation with Vir Sanghvi, Chandrachud acknowledged the unease surrounding prolonged incarceration.

“Each one of these principles which I have mentioned does point to the fact that you can impose conditions to ensure that bail is not abused,” he said, adding that courts must also consider the accused’s right to an expeditious trial.

When Sanghvi brought up Khalid’s continued detention, Chandrachud was cautious but pointed. “I’m not criticising my court,” he said, noting his hesitation to comment on cases while having led the institution until recently. Judges, he stressed, must decide bail based on the evidence and material placed before them, not



public pressure or hindsight.

Yet the broader constitutional principle, Chandrachud argued, is clear. If trials are not concluded within a reasonable period, incarceration itself becomes punitive.

“The right to life under Article 21 includes the right to a speedy trial,” he said, emphasising that even laws which restrict bail cannot override constitutional guarantees.

“If an expeditious trial is not possible under present conditions,” Chandrachud said, “then bail should be the rule and not the exception.”

He rejected the idea that bail decisions should automatically defer to claims of national security. Courts, he said, are duty-bound to scrutinise whether national security is genuinely involved and whether prolonged detention is proportionate.

Otherwise, individuals end up imprisoned for years without conviction, a distortion of justice itself.