New Delhi, Jan. 27 -- The Supreme Court on Monday while granting bail to a Maulvi accused of religious conversion, observed that it was expected of the High Court to muster courage and exercise its discretion judiciously.

A Bench of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and R. Mahadevan explained that discretion in such cases must be used judiciously by the courts keeping in mind the well settled principles for granting bail.

"Discretion does not mean that the judge on his own whims and fancy declines bail saying conversion is something very serious. The petitioner is going to be put to trial and ultimately if the prosecution succeeds in establishing its case, he would be punished", the Court said in its order.

Further, the Court lamented the lack o...