Cheque Bounce Accused kept in Jail for a Week despite grant of Bail, DG Prisons apologises before HC

On Thursday, the High Court of Delhi directed the Delhi State Legal Services Authority (DSLSA) to conduct specialised module training for jail superintendents, deputy superintendents & assistant superintendents with a focus on their duties & obligations & rights of prisoners. The direction came after a prisoner was illegally detained in jail even after being granted bail.

A bench of Justices Hima Kohli & Subramonium Prasad said the training was necessary so that such incidents do not happen again. The HC was hearing a petition by a prisoner who was detained for 10 days even after being granted bail.

The person was granted bail by the trial court on May 18 in a cheque bounce case but was released only on June 25. The jail authorities had earlier told the court that the petitioner was not able to secure the sureties required to be submitted along with the bail bond. It said that the accused could give the sureties only on June 15 & hence the delay in releasing him.

On the last date of hearing, the court had pulled up Tihar authorities for their failure to release the man. It had asked the jail authorities to furnish the data of prisoners released during the past three years.

On Thursday, a status report was filed by Lawyer Rahul Mehra, standing counsel of the Govt of Delhi & Lawyer Chaitanya Gosain on behalf of the director general (prisons) Sandeep Goel tendering “an unconditional apology for the inappropriate explanation given by the superintendent, Central Jail-I, Tihar jail, for unlawfully detaining the petitioner between June 20 to June 25.

The report further submitted that at least 1.5 lakh prisoners have been released during the past three years & the direction of the court to compile the data relating to such prisoners would be a stupendous exercise & need a lot of time.

Goel, who was present during the video conferencing hearing, apologised to the court. He submitted that in order to prevent any such mistake in future, the prison (headquarters) has constituted a committee to randomly inspect jails concerning detention of prisoners & their release.

The status report said that “Further, a circular has been issued informing all concerned that no person must be detained without any valid reason & that the official concerned will be held responsible in case of a lapse".

He assured the court that after a lot of introspection, it has been decided that course correction is warranted within the department. He said that 14 law officers are also being appointed on a contractual basis soon & they will be available in each of the jails t advise & guide officials & prisoners.

Following this, the Court said officers posted in the jails would attend online workshops arranged by DSLSA, tailor-made for making them aware of the rights of prisoners & their duties with respect to inmates. The matter would be now heard on Sept 14. 

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