A convict in Gujarat who had secured bail in 2020 continued to languish in prison for another three years as prison authorities claimed that they were unable to open the bail order which was sent to them by the High Court registry as an e-mail attachment, reports Bar and Bench.
A division bench of Justice AS Supehia and MR Mengdey of the Gujarat High Court ordered the State to pay a compensation of Rs one lakh to a 27-year-old convict Chadanji Thakor after a fresh application was moved by him.
The Court called the case as an “eye-opener” and ordered the State to compensate him within two weeks for the “serious lapse”.
Thakor was serving life imprisonment for a murder case when his sentence was suspended on September 29, 2020.
“In the present case, the registry of this Court had categorically informed the jail authorities about the order passed by this Court releasing the applicant on regular bail. It is not the case that such E-mail was not received by the jail authorities. It is the case of the jail authorities that necessary action could not be taken in view of the COVID-19 pandemic and though they have received the E-mail, they were unable to open the attachment,” the Court noted in its order.
Jail authorities claimed that action could not be taken due to COVID-19. They further claimed that they received the e-mail, but were unable to open the attachment.
The Court also pulled up the District Sessions Court saying that the email was also sent to it, however, no efforts were made to see that the order granting bail was implemented.
It also said that the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) had failed to point out the suspension of sentence order to the jail authorities.
“The applicant, though was released and could have enjoyed his freedom, was forced to remain in jail only because no attention was paid by the jail authorities to contact the Registry or Sessions Court with regard to the order passed by this Court,” said the Court.
The Court also asked the DLSA to collect the reasons for their not having been released either for want of surety or non-execution of the jail bonds or for any other reason. The matter has been listed for hearing on October 18 to ensure compliance with the directions.