Release quarantined accused from jail: Gauhati High Court

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: The Gauhati High Court has stated that once an accused is released on bail, on fulfilling the normal conditions of securing bail, he/she will have a right to be freed from the custody. The Court underlined that if the accused is in quarantine, he/she will have the right to be moved from the jail to any other location of quarantine following the norms of the Disaster Management Act, 2005.

"It will be the responsibility of the Jail and other authorities to ensure movement of such quarantined person to an appropriate location. If such impugned condition is to be upheld, it would virtually mean that he cannot be released till he completes his quarantine period, which has no nexus with the merit of the case because of which the accused has been granted bail. Thus, the person released on bail will continue to remain in jail," stated an order by Justice N Kotiswar Singh.

The order was issued following a petition filed in regard to Palashbari Police Station Case No.56/2021 under Section 379/411 of the Indian Penal Code.

The Court also directed the Registry to circulate a copy of this order to all the District and Sessions Judges for drawing attention of all the Magistrates of the observations made by the Gauhati High Court while passing bail orders.

Also Read: COVID Effect: 1,956 Inmates Released from Guwahati Central Jail in Assam