Supreme Court examines the Delhi High Court bail condition.
The court was considering a special leave to appeal petition challenging the conditions imposed by the Delhi High Court for granting interim bail to Frank Vitus, a Nigerian national accused in a drugs case.
In 2022, the High Court had instructed Vitus and a co-accused to mark their location on Google Maps so that the Investigating Officer could monitor their whereabouts. Additionally, the court had mandated Vitus to obtain a certificate from the Nigerian High Commission confirming his commitment to remain in India and appear before the trial court.
A bench comprising Justice Abhay S Oka and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan was deliberating on whether the requirement for an accused person to drop a pin on Google Maps, enabling the investigating officer to track their location, infringes upon the right to privacy.
The court observed that “Imposing any bail condition which enables the Police/Investigation Agency to track every movement of the accused released on bail by using any technology or otherwise would undoubtedly violate the right to privacy guaranteed under Article 21.” And ordered for deletion of the said condition.
Furthermore, the court relaxed a bail condition that required Vitus to obtain a guarantee from his embassy that he would not leave India. The bench remarked that bail conditions should not undermine the purpose of granting bail.
Case no. – SLP (Crl.) No. 6339-6340/2023
Case Title – Frank Vitus v. Narcotics Control Bureau.
