New Delhi, Oct. 15 -- "Process must not be turned into a punishment unto itself," the Supreme Court held on Wednesday, emphasising that prolonged incarceration, if allowed to continue, would negate the constitutional safeguards available to accused persons even under stringent laws such as the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

"In a bail matter, especially in serious offences, the job of a Court is to balance the rights of the State with those of the arrestee," noted a bench of justices Aravind Kumar and Vipul M Pancholi, stressing that investigating agencies have a duty to complete their investigations expeditiously and cannot justify keeping an accused behind bars indefinitely when the trial is unlikely to conclude within a re...