Bombay High Court slams jail for not producing undertrial in court in 2 years

The bench was hearing a habeas corpus plea for securing release of petitioner Satly Thomas from “illegal custody” after his arrest on August 19, 2023 in a special case under Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. The petitioner through advocate Prasannan Namboodiri had also sought quashing of subsequent remand orders and sought to be released on bail.

The petitioner had raised primary grievance that he was produced before the magistrate beyond the statutory period of 24 hours.

The court said the lapse in production of the accused was “grave” and was “inescapable” and it issued notice to the Director General of Police (Prisons) to look into the particular case. It sought report from the police authority after conducting necessary inquiry as to why the accused was not produced and whether “production of a person in judicial custody is at the whims and fancies of the Jail Superintendent.”

The court also sought a report from Taloja jail as to how may appearances on video conferencing are ensured every day and “whether there is a need for enhancing the facility so that such serious lapses do not reoccur.”

On Monday, the HC noted that the DIG, Prisons had submitted the report. However, it said it required some clarification so that difficulties faced by police department related to courts in which accused are required to be produced can be resolved in systematic manner. The HC posted further hearing to December 16.