Court
Handled by Advocate N. J. Parmar, B.A., LL.B., more than thirty-five years at the Bar. Court practice and notaryship run together: under section 3 of the Notaries Act, 1952 read with Rule 3 of the Notaries Rules, 1956, notaries are appointed from among advocates of long standing, and the application is routed through the court where the advocate practises.
What a bail application turns on
Courts weigh a familiar set of considerations: the nature and gravity of the accusation, the evidence apparently available, the applicant\u2019s antecedents, the risk of absconding, the risk of tampering with evidence or influencing witnesses, and the applicant\u2019s circumstances — health, age, dependants and employment.
An application that addresses each of those with material rather than assertion is a different document from one that pleads generally. The work is in the preparation: identity and address proof, employment and community ties, medical material where relevant, and the surety\u2019s documentation ready before the hearing rather than after the order.
Sureties
A surety stands behind the accused\u2019s attendance and undertakes an obligation of real substance. A person being asked to stand surety should understand what they are taking on before they agree — it is not a formality. Sureties normally need identity, address and solvency documentation, and a solvency affidavit is frequently required.
Bail is granted on terms — attendance, reporting, surrender of a passport, restrictions on contacting witnesses, on leaving the jurisdiction. Breaching any of them risks cancellation, and cancellation is far harder to undo than the original grant was to obtain. If a condition is impractical, that should be raised with the court rather than quietly disregarded.
Anticipatory bail
Where there is a genuine apprehension of arrest, an application may be made in advance. Timing matters: applications made early, with proper material, are in a very different position from applications made after events have overtaken them.
What we will not do
Advise on avoiding process, on concealing anything, or on approaching witnesses. Those are not defences; they are additional offences, and they destroy the matter they were meant to help.
Where a claim is time-barred, where the document relied on was never registered and therefore cannot be received in evidence of the transaction under section 49 of the Registration Act, 1908, or where the realistic recovery is less than the cost of recovering it — you will be told at the first meeting, not after money has been spent. A settlement reached quickly is very often worth more than a decree obtained slowly.
What to bring
- Every document you have, including the unhelpful ones
- Photo ID
- A dated account of what has happened
- Any notice or court paper already received or sent
- Any FIR, summons or notice
- Identity, address and employment proof for the applicant
- Identity, address and solvency documents for the proposed surety
- Medical documents where relevant