{"id":27434,"date":"2026-07-11T07:05:47","date_gmt":"2026-07-11T07:05:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.legalserviceindia.com\/Legal-Articles\/?p=27434"},"modified":"2026-07-11T07:14:43","modified_gmt":"2026-07-11T07:14:43","slug":"bail-jurisprudence-india-article-21-legal-aid-undertrial-prisoners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.legalserviceindia.com\/Legal-Articles\/bail-jurisprudence-india-article-21-legal-aid-undertrial-prisoners\/","title":{"rendered":"Bail Jurisprudence in India: Article 21, Legal Aid, Undertrial Prisoners & the Constitutional Right to Liberty"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

<\/span>Bail Jurisprudence and the Legal Aid Deficit: Reassessing Article 21<\/span><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Abstract:<\/strong> Article 21 of the Constitution guarantees the right to life and personal liberty, and bail jurisprudence exists to give that guarantee practical effect before a person is convicted of anything. In most cases, however, an accused person’s liberty depends less on the strength of the case against them than on whether they had a lawyer who could ask for bail in the first place. This article traces the constitutional and judicial framework governing bail in India, from ordinary criminal bail to bail under special statutes such as the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, sets it against the National Crime Records Bureau’s most recent prison data, and examines two recent Supreme Court interventions on prisoner legal aid and open correctional institutions. It argues that bail law, however liberally worded by the courts, remains incomplete without a legal aid delivery system built to reach the people who actually need it.<\/p>

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