Bail condition allowing police to track movement of accused impermissible: SC

New Delhi, July 8: The Supreme Court on Monday ruled that a bail condition allowing the police to constantly track the movements of the accused and invade their privacy is impermissible, Live Law reported.

A bench of Justice Abhay S. Oka and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan was assessing whether a bail requirement for an accused to share their location on Google Maps with the investigating officer violates their right to privacy.

The Court annulled the bail condition mandating the accused to share their Google Maps PIN with the investigating officer. "There can't be a bail condition defeating the very objective of bail. There can't be a bail condition enabling the police to constantly track the movement of the accused and virtually peep into the private life of the accused," Justice Oka stated in the verdict.

Additionally, the Court relaxed a bail condition that required a foreign accused to secure an assurance from their Embassy that they would not leave India. The bench emphasized that bail conditions should not undermine the purpose of granting bail.

This decision arose from a special leave to appeal petition challenging the Delhi High Court's interim bail conditions for Frank Vitus, a Nigerian national accused in a drugs case. In 2022, the High Court had mandated the accused and a co-accused to share their live location on Google Maps and obtain a certificate from the Nigerian High Commission confirming they would remain in India and appear before the trial court.

During the proceedings, the Supreme Court requested Google India to clarify the functionality of Google PIN in the context of bail conditions requiring live location sharing. After excusing Google India, the Court directed Google LLC to provide an explanation. Upon reviewing the affidavit from Google LLC, Justice Oka deemed it “superfluous” and asserted that the bail condition violated Article 21 of the Constitution.

Additional Solicitor General Vikramjeet Banerjee, representing the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), argued that such a condition facilitates sharing the accused's live location. However, Justice Oka disagreed, stating that it cannot be a bail condition, despite its prior use in two court instances.

The Court addressed two primary issues: whether an accused should share their Google PIN location as a bail condition and whether bail for a foreign accused can be conditioned on securing an assurance from their Embassy not to leave India.