When it comes to the law of bail in India, there are two sides of the coin. On one side, we have the principle that ‘bail is a rule, and jail is an exception.’ The other side reveals the harsh reality that ‘procedure is the punishment.’ However, when the metaphorical coin is tossed, it rarely falls with a 50% probability on either side. For instance, while the Supreme Court of India has consistently affirmed that ‘bail is a rule and jail is an exception,’ this principle has often found pockets of exception in application, meaning that some individuals have been deprived of their liberty without a formal indictment of their guilt. Similarly, despite the Supreme Court holding that the right to default bail is a fundamental right, instances of interpretative chicanery have created pockets of exceptions to this rule.