New Delhi [India], November 11 (ANI): The Supreme Court has directed the Uttar Pradesh government to undertake an exercise across all districts to identify undertrial prisoners who continue to remain in jail despite being granted bail due to their inability to fulfil bail conditions, including furnishing sureties.
A bench of Justices MM Sundresh and PB Varale clarified that the exercise must cover all such prisoners, irrespective of whether they are represented by private lawyers or have sought assistance from the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA).
The apex court said the DLSAs must extend assistance to all undertrials who are unable to secure their release after being granted bail.
It emphasised that there cannot be any distinction between prisoners represented by private counsel and those receiving legal aid, as the underlying difficulty in both cases is the inability to comply with the bail conditions imposed by the trial courts.
The bench made it clear that the proceedings cannot be treated as adversarial litigation in which assistance is restricted only to prisoners who have approached legal services authorities.
“The fact remains that both the categories are similar with respect to non-compliance of the bail conditions imposed. Merely because the private lawyers have been engaged, the assistance from the District Legal Services Authority counsel cannot be denied,” the apex court observed in its order on November 4.
The bench also stressed that the responsibility of ensuring their release from custody ultimately rests with the State government.
“We also request the concerned Courts to take up those cases which were brought to notice by the respective District Legal Services Authorities and modify the condition(s) suitably, so that the under-trial prisoners can be released accordingly,” the bench said.
The directions were passed after the top court was informed that 264 undertrial prisoners who had been granted bail were identified across 20 districts of Uttar Pradesh. Of these, 158 had been released, while 106 continued to remain incarcerated due to non-furnishing of sureties or non-compliance with other conditions imposed by the trial courts.
The top court was also informed that the figure of 264 prisoners pertained only to 20 districts and that a similar exercise was yet to be undertaken in the remaining districts.
Taking note of this, the bench directed the State to ensure that all eligible undertrials across the districts are identified with the assistance of the concerned DLSAs.
The suo motu proceedings arise from the Supreme Court's examination of systemic issues concerning undertrial prisoners and other prison reforms.
One of the issues being examined is the continued incarceration of prisoners who have secured bail but are unable to fulfil the conditions imposed by courts, particularly the requirement of furnishing bail bonds and sureties. (ANI)
SC directs UP to identify undertrials stuck in jail despite bail due to their inability to fulfil bail conditions
