Cleared – mani
Chennai: A delay in release of a prisoner, after grant of bail, is a violation of human rights, Madras high court has said, adding, “once bail is granted, the prisoner is entitled to release forthwith.”
A division bench of Justice S M Subramaniam and Justice M Jothiraman directed the prison authorities to immediately inform the Legal Services Authority or counsel appearing on behalf of the prisoners about those who were granted bail but are still languishing in jail.
This would enable the authorities or the counsel to initiate all appropriate actions to ensure that those prisoners are released from prison and not kept inside unnecessarily, which would result in a violation of human rights, the court added.
The court passed the order on a suo motu plea initiated by the court based on a newspaper report highlighting the plight of prisoners languishing in jail even after obtaining bail due to the lack of surety.
MSID:: 119431552 413 |