The first question is not which type of bail you want, but whether the offence is bailable or non-bailable. That single classification decides almost everything.
Bailable offences
Bail is a matter of right. The police officer or the court must release you on furnishing bail. There is no discretion to refuse, and generally no need for a lawyer to argue for it.
Non-bailable offences
Bail is discretionary. The court weighs the nature and gravity of the offence, the severity of the punishment, the risk of absconding, the risk of tampering with evidence or influencing witnesses, the antecedents of the accused, and the stage of the investigation.
The categories
- Regular bail, under Section 480 BNSS, applied for after arrest, before the Magistrate or the Sessions Court, and if refused, the High Court under Section 483.
- Anticipatory bail, under Section 482 BNSS, before arrest, in the Sessions Court or High Court.
- Interim bail, a short-term protection granted while a regular or anticipatory bail application is pending. Frequently the most valuable order in practice, because it prevents custody during the gap.
- Default or statutory bail, where the investigating agency fails to file the chargesheet within the prescribed period.
- Transit anticipatory bail, a limited protection from a court where you are located, to enable you to approach the court having jurisdiction over the FIR in another state.
This principle, restated in Satender Kumar Antil v. CBI (2022), is not a slogan. In that judgment the Supreme Court issued detailed directions categorising offences and directing courts and police to comply with Sections 41 and 41A CrPC, now Sections 35 and 35(3) BNSS. Citing those directions is often more effective than general argument on the merits.
Special statutes are harder
Some laws impose additional conditions that reverse the ordinary approach, notably Section 37 of the NDPS Act for commercial quantities, and provisions in the UAPA and PMLA. These require the court to be satisfied there are reasonable grounds for believing the accused is not guilty, which is a heavy threshold.