In a stern rebuke of the Odisha judiciary, the Supreme Court on Monday declared “null and void” several “regressive” bail conditions that compelled accused individuals—predominantly from Scheduled Tribe and Dalit communities—to perform manual labor, such as cleaning police stations, as a prerequisite for their release.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi took suo motu cognisance of the matter, describing the orders as “obnoxious” and “degrading.” The Court asserted that such conditions reflect a deep-seated caste bias that directly contradicts the constitutional vision of a casteless society.
The issue surfaced following a series of bail orders issued by the Orissa High Court and district sessions courts between May 2025 and January 2026. The cases involved approximately 40 individuals, many from Adivasi and Dalit backgrounds, who were arrested while protesting land acquisition by a corporate entity.
While granting them bail, the courts had imposed a condition requiring the accused to clean police stations for a period of two months.
Expressing “disappointment and heartbreak,” Chief Justice Surya Kant noted that such measures were being enacted 76 years after India gained independence. He remarked that the judiciary, as the “sentinel qui vive,” is tasked with protecting the rights of the people against the might of the State, yet these orders brought a “bad name to the image of the judiciary.”
The Supreme Court highlighted a troubling disparity, noting that such burdensome and “cruel” conditions were notably absent in cases involving wealthier defendants.
“The nature of conditions is so cruel and abhorrent that it has the capacity to project the Odisha judiciary as caste-biased,” the bench observed. “It has been rightly reported that it exposes bias of the judiciary since the accused belongs to a marginalised community and thus justified to subject them to such burdensome requirements.”
The bench emphasized that even if there was no explicit intent of bias, the “distasteful and degrading” nature of the requirements raised serious doubts about systemic discrimination. The Court reiterated that the law must provide “just, fair, and reasonable procedures,” incorporating substantive due process into the constitutional framework.
The Supreme Court issued “omnibus directions” to the Odisha judiciary to immediately eliminate such offensive conditions from all existing orders. It further warned against substituting these terms with any other onerous or analogous requirements.
To ensure the practice is eradicated nationwide, the bench directed the Supreme Court registry to circulate this order to all High Courts across India.
“We declare such conditions and any other similarly worded condition imposed by the state judiciary as null and void,” the bench ordered. The Court clarified that all affected petitioners would remain on bail and are deemed relieved of the “abhorrent” conditions immediately.
