'God Knows Who Is Still Languishing In Jails': Supreme Court Raps UP Police

The Supreme Court on Wednesday reprimanded Uttar Pradesh Police for failing to ensure that persons granted bail by a court of law, including itself, were not promptly released.

The top court directed PC Meena, the Director-General (Personnel) of UP Police to conduct a statewide video conference with officers to ensure the court's orders on bail are not countered by 'vested interest' masquerading as 'nit-picking' of the instructions to release someone.

The top court also directed the UP government to pay Rs 5 lakh as compensation to a man it had granted bail on May 27 but was not released till an irate court intervened Tuesday.

Suspecting 'vested interests' in keeping the man jailed, the Supreme Court also ordered a judicial inquiry by the Principal District and Sessions Judge of Ghaziabad.

Officers found to be at fault will be fined Rs 5 lakh, the court warned.

Reports of the inquiry and confirming compliance are expected by Friday, the court said.

Expressing serious concern over people being forcibly jailed in UP despite court orders for their release, the bench of Justice KV Vishwanathan and Justice NK Singh hauled up the state's police force for denying individuals their fundamental right to liberty. "Nit-picking of court orders to deny bail amounts to a serious dereliction of duty," the Supreme Court warned state officials.

Mr Meena and other senior officers had been summoned as the Supreme Court heard a petition by a man called Aftab, who was denied release from Ghaizabad Jail despite securing bail.

He told the top court he had been detained for 28 days, a delay the authorities claimed before the court was due to a 'clerical error' in sections of the bail and release orders.

The court, though, batted away the claim, saying personal liberty could not be denied by 'useless technicalities and irrelevant errors', and asked the police to not repeat such mistakes.

"God knows how many persons are languishing in UP jails like this... Sensitise your officers by Friday... via video conference... to ensure no person enlarged by a court should be in jail..."

The bench also warned the police of further action if the 'vested interests' are revealed.

Mr Meena assured the court he would conduct the VC immediately, and told the court there are as many as 90,000 people in jails across the state, as of June 24.

Earlier, senior counsel Garima Prasad, appearing for the state government, told the court 'certain apprehensions' about a bail order, and the resulting delay, were not deliberate.

In the Aftab case, he pointed out, the police sent the order back to a lower court, on the same day the Supreme Court ordered his release, for a clarification. The delay, therefore, was from the lower court, he declared. But Justice Vishwanathan was unimpressed.

Warning that he would increase the compensation ordered to Rs 10 lakh, he asked, "Is 'sub section not mentioned' a valid ground to be taken by officers manning our prisons?"

The bench pointed out the fact the authorities knew what the 'error' with the subsection was, but still failed to release Aftab for nearly a month.