Assam jail inmates case news: Faced with a peculiar situation after the criminal records of four jailed inmates went missing, with no clarity on the status of their sentences, the Gauhati High Court recently said the government has no idea as it initiated a suo motu (on its own motion) case.
A bench of Chief Justice Ashutosh Kumar and Justice Arun Dev Choudhury said that the “records of the criminal case of four of the jail inmates are not traceable” and directed the trial courts concerned to “reconstruct” the records.
“We, therefore, direct the concerned district judges of Nalbari and Sribhumi Courts, where those inmates were tried, to reconstruct the records on an urgent basis,” the bench ordered.
The court earlier found that the inmates were languishing in jail with no information to the government or to the families of such convicts whether they had already served out their sentences. Besides, the details of the case in which they were languishing in jail was also said to be unknown.
“Therefore, they are languishing in jail with no idea to the Government or to the families of such convicts whether they have already served out their sentences or, for that matter, are in custody in connection with which case,” it added.
The respective trial court judges which tried the four men were, therefore, directed to “reconstruct the records urgently”.
The court lamented that the Assam State Legal Services Authority, in its endeavour to provide legal aid to convicts in Assam jails, found itself completely helpless in case of the four jail inmates whose records were missing.
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The court directed the advocates representing the four inmates to file applications for bail after confirming the period of their custody.
“Advocate(s) entrusted with the task of defending those inmates, would file necessary application(s) for grant of bail after confirming from the jail records about the period of their custody,” the bench said.
The court clarified if no jail records were available, then as an interim measure, bail application could be filed and will be considered by another bench.
The court directed that such a bench should pass necessary orders after considering the long period of detention, non-traceability of the records and only on being satisfied about the home and hearth of such jail inmates.
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“In case, there are no jail records available, as an interim measure, bail application(s) may be filed which shall be considered by the appropriate Bench, who shall take into account the long period of detention, non-traceability of the records and only on being satisfied about the home and hearth of such jail inmates, pass necessary orders bringing succour to them,” the court directed.
Before parting with the order the court also directed the member secretary of the High Court Legal Services Authority to assign the cases of the four inmates to legal aid advocates.
