In Binay Kumar Singh v. State of Jharkhand (2026 SCC OnLine SC 208), the Supreme Court stepped in decisively and invoked Article 32 of the Constitution to grant bail after finding that successive FIRs were being used to defeat earlier bail orders. The pattern was unmistakable
This is not just a bail order. This is a constitutional warning.
Article 32 is a constitutional remedy reserved for enforcement of fundamental rights. When the Court uses it in a bail matter, it signals something deeper:
- Personal liberty under Article 21 was being compromised.
- Criminal procedure was being misused as a tool of continued detention.
- Judicial orders cannot be indirectly defeated.
The message is clear:
You cannot indirectly do what you are barred from doing directly. This judgment strengthens an essential principle of criminal jurisprudence:
⚖️ Process cannot become punishment.
As practitioners, we are increasingly seeing:
- Multiple FIRs arising from the same transaction
- Slightly reworded allegations
- Endless custody despite bail in earlier matters
If this trend continues unchecked, bail jurisprudence becomes symbolic.
This ruling restores balance — not just for one accused, but for the integrity of the system.
Should courts begin framing clearer guidelines to prevent successive FIR abuse?
Because if liberty depends on how creatively FIRs are drafted —
then the system itself is at risk.
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Case Comment
In a writ petition under Article 32 of the Constitution of India, alleging repeatedly invoking and deploying the criminal process against the petitioners by way of successive registration of FIRs and custodial remands, particularly after grant of bail, is said to be arbitrary, mala fide, and violative of Articles 14, 19 and 21, a Division Bench of Aravind Kumar and Prasanna B. Varale, JJ., concluded that the successive registration of FIRs was solely to keep the petitioner 1 in custody. The Court granted bail to the petitioner 1 and directed that no coercive steps be taken against petitioner 2, subject to cooperation with investigation. In the instant matter, petitioner 1 was initially summoned by the Anti-Corruption Bureau, Ranchi in connection with FIR No. 9/2025 dated 20-05-2025 for offences under Sections 420, 467, 468, 471, 409, 107, 109 of the Penal Code, 1860 (IPC) and Sections 7(c), 12, 13(2) read with 13(1)(a) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (the Act). On the same day, another FIR No. 11/2025 was registered by ACB Hazaribagh relating to alleged illegal mutation of forest land in 2010 against the petitioners 1 and 2 with alleged connivance of Government officials.