New Delhi, July 7 -- Chief Justice of India (CJI) Bhushan R Gavai on Sunday lamented that the Indian judiciary had somewhat lost sight of the cardinal legal principle that "bail is the rule and jail the exception," while underlining the pressing need to reinforce the constitutional value of personal liberty.

Delivering the 11th Justice VR Krishna Iyer Memorial Law Lecture in Kochi, Justice Gavai expressed concern over the growing culture of prolonged incarceration of undertrials and the tendency of courts to prioritise custodial detention over bail.

"In the recent past, this principle (bail is the rule) was somewhat forgotten," he said, referring to Justice Krishna Iyer's pioneering contributions to bail jurisprudence and humane crimina...