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Synopsis

The Delhi High Court has recently taken suo motu cognizance of the delay by jail superintendents in accepting bail bonds and releasing prisoners who have been granted bail by the courts.

Justice Amit Mahajan, in an order passed on February 19, remarked that the purpose of granting bail and suspending sentences is to release the accused or convict from imprisonment.

However, the court expressed concern over the delay of one to two weeks by jail superintendents in accepting bail bonds, particularly in cases where interim bails are granted on medical grounds or other exigencies.

The courts directed that bail bonds be furnished directly to jail superintendents to facilitate the immediate release of the prisoner, bypassing the need for remittance to the trial court. The court emphasized that delays by jail authorities in such cases are unacceptable.

"In certain cases, interim bails are granted on medical grounds or some other exigencies, as expressed by the applicant. In such a scenario this Court fails to understand why the period of one to two weeks be taken by the Jail Superintendent for accepting the bail bonds." it said. 

Consequently, the court ordered the matter to be registered as a suo motu petition and sought responses from the Director General of Prisons and the Standing Counsel (Criminal) of the Delhi government regarding the issue.

"The Court while passing bail order at times directs that the Bails bond be directly furnished to the Jail Superintendent. The prisoner is not remitted to the Trial Court in order to facilitate the immediate release. The delay at the instance of the Jail Superintendent in accepting Bail Bonds is not acceptable to the conscience of this Court. Let the matter be registered as Sou Motu petition and numbered," the court ordered. 

Justice Mahajan took note of the matter while addressing a modification application filed by a convict whose sentence was suspended on February 8. It was brought to the court's attention that although the suspension of sentence was conditional upon furnishing a bail bond to the satisfaction of the jail superintendent, the process had not been completed yet, with formalities taking one to two weeks.

The Additional Standing Counsel for the State of Delhi, Nandita Rao, assured the court that such delays are aberrations and are not common practice among jail superintendents.

Despite orders being transmitted through the Fast and Secured Transmission of Electronic Records (FASTER) cell, the court highlighted persistent delays in processing bail bonds, citing the principle that "deprivation of liberty for a single day is a day too many."

Case Title: Court on its own motion v. Director General of Prisons, Govt. of NCT of Delhi