Personal liberty of an accused or convict is fundamental, suffering lawful eclipse only in terms of procedure established by law, the Kerala High Court said while granting bail to three forest officials, facing charges of custodial torture of an accused in the Idamalayar elephant poaching case.

Justice K Babu, while granting bail to an Indian Forest Service (IFS) couple and a forest department officer Vijayananthan, said the issue of bail is one of liberty, justice and public safety which insist that a developed jurisprudence of bail is integral to a socially sensitized judicial process.