Undertrial prisoners should not languish in jail even after getting bail just because they could not fulfil the conditions stipulated in the bail order, the Supreme Court said on Thursday while issuing guidelines to avoid delay in the release of prisoners on bail. The court can consider granting temporary bail till a prisoner, who is not financially sound, can furnish bond or sureties, the SC said.
The guidelines have been issued against the backdrop of Kerala-based journalist Siddique Kappan being released on Friday, over a month after getting the bail. It also comes in the wake of a report by the National Legal Services Authority that 5,000 undertrials were still in jail at the end of December despite having been granted bail.
Kappan had been in custody for over two years after he and three others were arrested in October 2020 while going to Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras where a Dalit woman died allegedly after being raped. The four were accused of trying to instigate violence over the death of the woman.
Kappan had been in jail for over a month even after being granted bail in the two cases filed against him. He was released from jail a day after sureties required for his bail were submitted in court.
The court that grants bail to an undertrial prisoner or convict would be required to send a soft copy of the bail order by e-mail to the prisoner through the jail superintendent on the same day or the next day, said the top court. The jail superintendent would be required to enter the date of grant of bail in the e-prisons software, it said.
If the accused is not released within seven days of bail, it would be the duty of the jail superintendent to inform the secretary, DLSA, who may depute a para legal volunteer or jail visiting advocate to interact with the prisoner and assist the prisoner in all ways possible for his release, the SC stressed.
The DLSA secretary may take help of the probation officers or para legal volunteers to prepare a report on the socio-economic conditions of the inmate “which may be placed before the concerned court with a request to relax the condition(s) of bail/surety”, it said.
In cases where the undertrial or convict requests he can furnish bail bond or sureties once released, in an appropriate case, the court may consider temporary bail for a specified period so that he can furnish bail bond or sureties, the court said.
The court underlined if the bail bonds are not furnished within a month from the date of bail, the court may suo moto take up the case and consider if the conditions of bail require modification/ relaxation. “One of the reasons that delays the release of the accused/ convict is the insistence upon local surety. It is suggested in such cases the courts may not impose the condition of local surety.”
