Why was a man kept in jail for eight years after getting Bail? Bombay HC directs Nashik Court to conduct inquiry

The Bombay High Court on Tuesday directed the District and Sessions Court in Nashik to conduct an inquiry into why a detainee was kept in jail despite being granted bail in 2011. The Court has asked the police and the jail authorities to file a detailed response in this regard..A Division Bench of Justices Indrajit Mahanty and Nitin Suryawanshi was hearing a habeas corpus plea filed by the petitioner detainee..After the authorities released the man on bail last month, the Court wanted to know why he was incarcerated for over eight years..Advocate Amit Mane, appearing for petitioner, had submitted that his client was booked for various crimes under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) and the Indian Penal Code in 2006, along with 34 others. The petitioner was 15-year-old when he was charged, Mane submitted..Mane claimed that his client was arrested in 2010, and that the Special MCOCA court granted him bail in 2011. However, he was not released by the police and jail authorities..Advocate Mane submitted that despite several applications to the jail authorities and the MCOCA court to grant him release, the pleas of detainee were rejected on the ground that the documents pertaining to his alleged involvement in the crime were not traceable. As a result, he remained in jail over the years. It was further submitted that only after the writ of habeas corpus was filed, the District Court had allowed his release last month..Additional Public Prosecutor M M Deshmukh confirmed the release of the detainee last month..Counsel for the petitioner also argued that many such persons are languishing in jail despite being granted bail due to the inefficiency of the probing agencies and jail authorities. Mane went on to submit that the chargesheet of the 2006 incident for which his client was incarcerated, was yet to be filed by the police..After perusing the documents and submissions, the Division Bench observed that the detention was unjustified. It went on to directed the District and Sessions Judge, Nashik to conduct an inquiry and submit a report along with documents in a sealed cover. The High Court held,.“The directions are being given by us because we are of the view that there appears to be no ostensible explanation available on record for the incarceration of the petitioner for such time of the period, if the petitioner was granted bail since 2011.”.The Court also asked the Superintendents of the Nashik Police and the Nashik Jail to file a detailed response..Read the Order: