UP govt starts preparing list of prisoners a day after Supreme Court rap

The Uttar Pradesh government has started the process of preparing a list of prisoners who have been behind bars for over a decade after the Supreme Court took serious note of pending bail applications of 853 inmates earlier this week

The Uttar Pradesh government has started the process of preparing a list of prisoners who have been behind bars for over a decade after the Supreme Court took serious note of pending bail applications of 853 inmates earlier this week.

The Supreme Court on Monday expressed displeasure over long-pending bail applications in Allahabad high court and its Lucknow bench. (Archive)

This list will be divided in two parts – one with details of prisoners awaiting bail for the last 10 years and the other of those waiting for more than 10 years.

“The Advocate General’s offices in Allahabad and in Lucknow have been entrusted with the task of expediting the legal process to ensure bail of 853 prisoners awaiting bail for over a decade,” said a senior official of the state government, asking not to be named.

The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court in May this year had directed additional advocate general (AAG) to prepare separate lists where convicts have served 14 years, and those that served more than 10 years of their prison terms.

A division bench of Justice Arvind Kumar Mishra and Justice Manish Mathur on April 29 observed: “We have put to learned AAG and the learned counsel for the High Court that a list should be prepared of all cases where the person has served out a sentence of 14 years and is not a repeat offender.”

The court had also observed that it should be legally explored whether bail could be granted in these cases at one go and cases could be remitted for examination under the Uttar Pradesh Prisoners Release on Probation Rules, 1938.

The Supreme Court on Monday expressed displeasure over long-pending bail applications in Allahabad high court and its Lucknow bench. The top court has given two weeks to the Uttar Pradesh government to present the list of 853 cases with serial numbers, time spent in custody and cases in which the state is opposing bail.