Bail Bond

What is a Bail Bond?

A bail bond is an agreement type that defends a criminal and gets him freedom. Co-signed by a bondsman, the defendant has to pay an amount in the form of a fee to get guaranteed payment. In short, a bail bond is similar to a surety bond.

In India, bail comes with a specific set of conditions and restrictions placed on the criminal in return for the release until a specific trial date.

How Does a Bail Bond Work?

Typically, a criminal who is charged with a crime is given a bail hearing in front of the judge. The bail’s amount remains at the discretion of the judge.

The judge may either deny the bail or set it for a certain period of time, depending upon the crime that the criminal is likely to appear. Generally, judged have an extensive latitude as far as setting a bail amount is concerned. And, typically, this amount varies considerably from one jurisdiction to another. For instance, if a person has been charged with nonviolent behaviour, he may get bail at Rs. 10,000.

Correspondingly, crimes that are violent come with a high bail amount, and the criminal may have to pay anywhere between Rs. 70,000 and above. Once the bail amount is finalized, the defendant gets a choice to make. Either he can stay in the jail until his charges get resolved at trial, or he can arrange a bail bond.

Bail bond agents, also known as bail bondsmen, provide a written agreement to the criminal court so as to pay the Bail in full if the defendant doesn’t appear for his trial dates. Bail bond agents may charge a specific part of the bail amount upfront.

Is Bail Bond Valid?

The bail bond system is regarded by several people, even in the profession of legality, to be a discriminatory activity. While defendants with low-Income have to stay in jail; the ones that have committed a grave crime can easily skip their sentences, albeit for a specific time period.

Moreover, there are even some such places that have outlawed the bail bond. Instead of a written agreement, they ask for a certain deposit on the bail amount to lodge with the court where the case is running.