Madras HC acts suo motu on DT Next report on prisoners languishing behind bars
Pointing out that in some cases the bail order granted by the lower courts is not even communicated to the prisoners
Madras High Court
CHENNAI: The Madras High Court, on Monday, initiated suo motu proceedings based on DT Next report exposing several hundreds of prisoners languishing behind bars even after being granted bail and said guidelines will be issued to ensure prisoners their rights as enshrined in the Constitution.
Initiating the suo motu, a division bench of Justice SM Subramaniam and Justice M Jothiraman observed, "It is alarming that even after the bail is granted several hundreds of prisoners are languishing behind bars, unable to execute the bail bond after being disowned by family members."
Pointing out that in some cases the bail order granted by the lower courts is not even communicated to the prisoners, the bench observed, "This is an unfortunate situation and hence needs to be looked into by all authorities concerned as remedial measures should not be just imminent but urgent."
The suo motu proceedings will address necessary directions to the authorities to ensure the compliance of court orders, financial assistance to the poor prisoners to execute bail bonds and effective communication of bail orders to the prisoners without delay.
Observing the lack of connectivity between principal district judges, legal services authority and prison authorities as one of the reasons for detainees languishing in jail even after being granted bail, the bench suggested constituting an e-portal service to address the issue. It also observed that the financial assistance scheme for poor prisoners is not implemented properly in the State.
The bench directed the registry to place the matter before the Chief Justice to issue necessary orders.
Under the court's directions, the Director General of Prisons and Correctional Services submitted a report regarding the quantum of prisoners languishing in jail unable to execute the bail bond and sureties. The report stated that 153 remand and 22 convict prisoners remain behind bars unable to comply with the bail terms.
Additional public prosecutor E Raj Tilak submitted that the numbers referred to in the DT Next report are inflated as it says more than 800 prisoners languish in the prisons.
However, Justice SM Subramaniam defended the DT Next report and observed that the figures could be correct since the DGP (Prisons) only submitted the number of detainees languishing in central prisons alone, overlooking those in sub-jails.
Further, the bench impleaded the principal secretary of the Home department, DGP (Prisons) and State legal services authority.
