Inmates granted bail but still languishing in jail
STAFF REPORTER
GUWAHATI: The Gauhati High Court has directed the Member Secretary of the State Legal Services Authority and the District Legal Services Authority to appoint advocates for inmates who have been granted bail are still languishing in jail.
The court issued this directive in connection with a suo moto writ petition (8/2018) in which the States of Assam, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram are respondents. The governments of these states had furnished details to the court of the jail inmates who had already been granted bail but were still in jail.
The court was informed that in Assam, more particularly in the six Central Jails situated at Guwahati, Tezpur, Silchar, Dibrugarh, Jorhat and Nagaon, 292 male inmates are such who have been granted bail but are still languishing in jail for want of non-fulfilment of the conditions of the grant of bail by the respective jurisdictional courts. In Assam, 15 female jail inmates have been granted bail but are still languishing in jail since more than 1 to 3 years.
Similarly, in the states of Nagaland, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh also, there are cases of female inmates who are still languishing in jail even though they have been granted bail.
The court, therefore, directed the respective Member Secretary of the State Legal Services Authority and the District Legal Services Authority to verify the conditions of bail order(s) and then file appropriate application(s) for change/alteration of the conditions of grant of bail. In cases under the Foreigners Act, appropriate application(s) for change/alteration of conditions, including transfer to Detention Centre, may be taken into consideration to ensure their presence at the time of trial.
The court order further stated, "The respective Member Secretary of the State Legal Services Authority and the District Legal Services Authority shall appoint advocate(s) for each of such male and female inmates. The State Governments shall also provide all necessary assistance for the same. Such exercise shall be done in case of all female inmates in all States latest by August 31, 2022."
The Member Secretary of respective State Legal Services Authority will pursue such application(s) before the competent jurisdictional courts and will assist the jail inmates after appropriate orders are passed by such jurisdictional criminal courts.
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