No restraints on politicians participating in political acts, rules Supreme Court

The Supreme Court ruled that instructing a politician to abstain from political engagements as a bail condition violates their fundamental rights. Justices BR Gavai and Sandeep Mehta overturned a bail condition set by the Orissa High Court that restricted a politician from participating in political activities.

The bench, in its order on March 22, stated, "We find that the imposition of such conditions would breach the fundamental rights of the appellant and no such conditions could have been imposed. We, therefore, quash and set aside the condition imposed by the High Court, to the extent the same is extracted above. Accordingly, the appeals are allowed."

The Supreme Court made its decision following a petition by Siba Shankar Das, a former Berhampur mayor and BJP leader from Odisha. Das, who had previously been with the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), faced criminal cases after switching parties. He contested the Orissa High Court's ruling on January 18, 2024, which denied his request to remove a condition from his bail order issued on August 11, 2022, restricting his political activities.

On August 11, 2022, the High Court granted him bail with the condition that he must avoid causing any disturbances in public and refrain from engaging in any form of political activities, either directly or indirectly.

In its January 24 order, the High Court stated that it would be unfair to change the bail condition allowing him to engage in political activities. This decision was made considering that he was facing 57 criminal cases and had survived a bomb attack in October 2023.