The court granted bail to a former Rajasthan minister in the Jal Jeevan Mission tender case.
The Supreme Court has said prolonged pre-trial detention cannot be allowed to become punishment without trial, as it granted bail to former Rajasthan minister Mahesh Chandra Joshi and another accused in a case linked to Jal Jeevan Mission tenders.
The court said the seriousness of allegations cannot by itself override all other considerations in deciding bail, and the right to liberty and a speedy trial applies even in cases of serious financial irregularities.
The case involves allegations that two firms used fabricated completion certificates to win 104 work orders in the state's public health engineering department. It has 22 accused, three chargesheets, 124 prosecution witnesses and more than 20,000 pages of records, and charges have not yet been framed.
Joshi had been in custody for over five months. The court noted that evidence had been seized and chargesheets filed, reducing the risk of tampering.
