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4. The interim bail application moved by the petitioner was considered by the High Court and was ultimately disallowed by the order impugned dated 14.01.2025 but he was granted conditional custody parole for subscribing oath and to complete formalities in respect of filing his nomination papers to contest the Assembly Elections. In this way, though the petitioner has no fundamental right to contest the elections but his statutory right to that effect was duly protected.

bail/"interim" suspension of sentence, have been used and accepted as part of legal vocabulary and are well- known expressions. The said terms are used in contradistinction and to distinguish release on regular bail during pendency of trial or appeal till final adjudication. Applications for "interim" suspension or bail are primarily moved and prayed for, when the accused or convict is not entitled to or cannot be granted regular bail or suspension of sentence, or the application for grant of regular bail is pending consideration and is yet to be decided. "Interim" bail entailing temporary release can be granted under compelling circumstances and grounds, even when regular bail would not be justified. Intolerable grief and suffering in the given facts, may justify temporary release, even when regular bail is not warranted. Such situations are not difficult to recount, though making a catalogue would be an unnecessary exercise."

11. The reasons and factors whereunder interim bail may be permitted may include cases where there is death in the family of the accused and the cremation has to take place; to attend the wedding of son/daughter or of any close relative of the accused but such a right has not been recognized on the plea of contesting or canvassing for the election.

12. In the event interim bail is made permissible on the ground of contesting elections, it will open a Pandora’s box inasmuch as in this country election in some form takes place throughout the year and the accused persons in jail may take undue benefit of it and even if they are not serious in contesting elections, they would move interim bail application for the purposes of participating in the election knowing fully well they are likely to lose or are not serious contenders. This will open a flood gate of litigation which ought not to be permitted so as to widen the scope of grant of interim bail, more particularly when the regular bail application is pending consideration.

19. Reliance placed upon the decision of this Court in the case of Arvind Kejriwal (supra) cuts no ice inasmuch as it is distinguishable on facts. There the petitioner was holding the post of Chief Minister and was the President of a national party and therefore, the Court opined that he is one of the main campaigners, which is not the situation in the case at hand.

20. It may not be out of context to mention that the petitioner is in jail not only in connection with the case at hand i.e., FIR No. 65 of 2020 but also in two other cases, including a PMLA case, and a case arising out of FIR No. 59 of 2020. In those two cases, the petitioner has not been granted bail. His bail application/interim bail application in those cases are pending in different courts but the fact remains that he is not on bail in those two cases, meaning thereby that even if the petitioner is granted interim bail in the present case, he would not be out of prison for the purpose of canvassing and campaigning. Therefore, the entire exercise in this regard will prove to be academic and futile in nature.