AHMEDABAD:
Gujarat high court recently came down heavily on the Sabarmati jail authorities for not releasing a life convict despite its bail order three years ago. The court ordered the Gujarat government to pay Rs 1 lakh compensation to the hapless man, who suffered incarceration for three years for no fault of his.
The bench headed by Justice AS Supehia was upset with the administrations of Mehsana sessions court and the Sabarmati jail for not paying heed to the email in which the bail order was sent for prisoner Chandanji Thakor, who was awarded life imprisonment in 2020 in a murder case.
The bench noted that the HC had suspended Thakor’s sentence in September 2020 and sent an email in this regard to the sessions court and the prison. The Mehsana court didn’t notice the mail, and while the jail authorities took note of it, they claimed, the attachment with the email containing the bail order could not be opened.
Thakor approached the HC as there was no action by authorities despite the court suspending his sentence. After HC pulled up the authorities, Thakor was released on September 21. On September 22, the HC ordered compensation for the prisoner and criticized the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) for having failed to notice Thakor’s problem, since it has been tasked with pointing out such cases to the court.
Looking at the seriousness of the issue, the HC directed the DLSA to collect data of such undertrial prisoners and convicts in whose favour bail orders have been passed, but they have not been released.