153 remand prisoners still in jail despite grant of bail: State to Madras High Court

The Tamil Nadu Prison Department has informed the Madras High Court that 153 remand prisoners and 22 convicts were languishing in prisons across the State even after grant of bail and suspension of their sentence, respectively..The inmates had not been able to leave the prison despite bail mainly due to delay in receiving bail orders from the trial courts, the State informed the High Court through an affidavit filed on December 9.A Bench of Justices SM Subramaniam and M Jothiraman has been hearing a suo motu petition on undertrials and convicts who continue to remain in prison despite grant of bail and suspension of sentence. The Court took note of the State's submission and impleaded its Registrar General as a party to the proceedings.The Bench directed the Registrar General to ensure that the process for release of such prisoners was accelerated and that inmates were able to seek help from the State legal aid services.“The learned Additional Public Prosecutor would submit that there is delay in receiving the bail orders from the District Courts. As far as the High Court is concerned, order copies are received immediately. In this regard, it is necessary to implead the Registrar General, High Court, Madras to ensure that the process in this regard is accelerated to ensure that the prisoners languishing unnecessarily in prisons stand released by completing the formalities and by filing necessary petition through the Legal Aid Services before the competent Court,” the High Court said..The Court noted that the Tamil Nadu government had already issued a Government Order on February 5, 2024 for implementing a Central government scheme to provide financial assistance to needy prisoners.It directed the State to file a status report detailing the amount of assistance provided to inmates so far, by January 6, 2025.It also made the Puducherry Chief Secretary a party to the suo motu proceedings to ensure that prison inmates in the Union Territory also benefitted..[Read Order]