Can a constitutional democracy legitimise exceptional liberty burdens by declaration? India’s Supreme Court recently grappled with this question in a landmark ruling that exposes fault lines between counter-terrorism imperatives and fundamental rights, particularly when prolonged pre-trial detention transforms the presumption of innocence into years without conviction. On December 11, 2025, the Court delivered its judgment in Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) v. Dayamoy Mahato: eighteen accused in the 2010 Jnaneshwari Express derailment case (148 fatalities) had spent over twelve years in pre-trial detention while proceedings stalled. The Calcutta High Court granted bail between 2022 and 2023. While declining the prosecution’s appeal, the Supreme Court articulated a framework that could reshape India’s anti-terrorism jurisprudence