Bail Is Rule, Jail Exception, Law Minister Reminds Supreme Court

New Delhi, Oct 12: In a balancing act, Union Law Minister Salman Khurshid said that while it was for the courts to decide as to who should be locked up, the dictum of bail being the rule and jail an exception has been laid down by the Supreme Court itself.

Elaborating on his controversial statement that the judiciary needs to understand the ‘political economy’ in the country, Khurshid told PTI last night that “it is not for me to lock up people, it is for the courts to decide”.

At the same time, he recalled that the Supreme Court had laid down the law “bail is the rule, jail is an exception”.

The Law Minister was speaking in the backdrop of his comment, “if you lock up top businessmen, will investment come”, which was termed as “disturbing” by the Supreme Court today.

From: http://ping.fm/yekFo