No surety,so mentally ill prisoner stays in jail despite being pardoned

Half of Manohar’s years of imprisonment after being convicted of murder have been spent in a mental asylum. He is hard of hearing,walks with difficulty,and Bareilly Jail has deputed another prisoner to take care of him. In view of Manohar’s condition,the government ordered his release on November 28,2007,after the Governor accepted his mercy petition.

But the police failed to locate Manohar’s family in his native Kahmariya village in Shahjahanpur. “They were not there. I was told that a few years after the murder,which took place in 1968,the family sold their land and left. I submitted my report accordingly,” said Sub-inspector Sohan Pal,in-charge of the Kahmariya outpost.

Village Pradhan Merajuddin said,“Manohar’s family has left the village. I said this to the police when they came to me to ask for their whereabouts.”

However,The Indian Express traced Manohar’s family to the Puwayan area of Shahjahanpur district,35 km from Kahmariya. His only son Chaura Singh,a labourer and father of five,was not aware that his father’s mercy plea had been accepted.

“I was too small when my father was arrested,” Chaura Singh said. “Initially,we used to go to jail to meet him. Later,he lost his mental balance and the jail authorities shifted him to the mental asylum in Varanasi. We lost contact with him gradually.”

The last time Chaura met his father was in 2006,when he was brought back to the jail from Varanasi after 21 years. “I will now go and find out what formalities are needed to get him out,” he said.

Manohar was arrested for killing his elder brother Ram Prasad in 1968. A Shahjahanpur court sentenced him to life imprisonment the next year. He has been behind bars ever since.

Manohar is one of several prisoners in UP who continue to be in jail even after orders for their release have been passed — because they can’t arrange for sureties. The District Magistrate decides the amounts of the sureties,but often the prisoners are poor,and no one is willing to stand surety for them.

IG (Prisons) Sulkhan Singh acknowledged that the surety condition is blocking the release of prisoners even after their mercy petitions or requests for early release have been accepted. “We are sending a letter to the state government to waive the condition and release the prisoners on personal bonds,” he said.

Several prisoners have died in jail even after the goverment has ordered their release,because they could not find sureties.

On November 28,2007,the government ordered the release of Nazir Ali,who had spent over 19 years in Barabanki jail. But Nazir could not arrange for sureties. On September 18,2008,he was admitted to the District Hospital after he complained of stomach pain. He died later.

Nazir’s lawyer Mahendra Yadav said,“Around two years ago,the police visited me to say that the mercy petition had been accepted and he would be released after two sureties are deposited. But since Nazir was poor,no one in the village was ready to stand surety for him,and the police team went back.”

On February 26,2009,the state government ordered the release of murder convict Gangrai,a native of Bihar. He could not arrange the sureties and remains in Central Jail,Naini,for over 21 years now.

On January 19,2009,the state government ordered the release of Chatra Bahadur,a native of Nepal,who is lodged in Central Jail,Varanasi,after his mercy petition was accepted. He too could not arrange the sureties,and is behind bars for 19 years now.