Critically analyse the balance between an under-trial's personal liberty and the victims' right to a fair trial in Indian criminal jurisprudence.

Article 21 protects both the accused's personal liberty and the right to a fair trial, and the Supreme Court has read victims into this guarantee. Indian law balances the two well on paper. In practice the balance is often uneven: delay erodes liberty, and the influence of a powerful accused erodes victims' confidence.

Safeguards for the under-trial's liberty

• Bail is the rule, jail the exception: Satender Kumar Antil v. CBI (2022) issued bail guidelines to curb needless arrests. It noted that over two-thirds of prisoners are under-trials [2].
• Scale of detention: About three-fourths of India's prisoners were under-trials in 2022 [3].
• Statutory relief: Section 479 BNSS requires a first-time offender to be released on bond after serving one-third of the maximum sentence [5].

Safeguards for victims' right to a fair trial

• Participatory rights: Jagjeet Singh v. Ashish Mishra (2022) held that victims must be heard at every stage, including bail. On that basis the Court set aside the bail granted in the Lakhimpur Kheri case [1].
• Witness protection: Mahender Chawla (2018) made the Witness Protection Scheme, 2018 binding law under Articles 141/142 [4].

Critical assessment: where the balance tilts

• Against the accused: Delay becomes punishment without a conviction. Poorer under-trials often cannot furnish sureties.
• Against the victim: An influential accused can pressure witnesses. The State's presence is not the same as hearing the victim [1].
• Perception gap: In Lakhimpur Kheri, the trial judge was transferred mid-trial. The defence called this "routine", but the victims raised suspicions [6]. Justice must also be seen to be done.
• Misplaced judicial bandwidth: The Supreme Court keeps ruling on the accused's travel, such as a Deepavali visit [6], while the trial itself drags on.

Way forward

• Day-to-day trials in custody-linked and high-profile cases.
• Reasoned, recorded orders when a judge is transferred out of a court-monitored trial.
• Use risk-graded bail conditions instead of blanket detention, and tell witnesses about the 2018 Scheme [4].

Liberty and victims' rights are two sides of Article 21, not rivals. A speedy and transparent trial serves both: the accused does not languish in jail, and the victim does not wait endlessly. Combining Antil's bail reforms, BNSS relief and Jagjeet Singh's victim-centric approach can deliver SDG 16's promise of equal access to justice.