SC orders details on languishing prisoners without a trial

The apex court rescues two prisoners who were in jail without a trial for decades, reports Satya Prakash.

Having rescued two prisoners languishing in jails without any trial for decades, the Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the Registrar Generals of all the 22 High Courts across the country to furnish details of such prisoners within six weeks.

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A Bench headed by Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan also directed the Registrar Generals to file reports about the undertrial prisoners sent to mental asylum for treatment.

The apex court had last year taken suo motu cognisance of a news report about one Ramjeevan Yadav, who had been in Faizabad Jail in Uttar Pradesh jail for 38 years without any trial.

Earlier, another such case of one Machal Lalung had come to light in Asom who was in mental asylum for over 55 years. Both prisoners have since been released on bail and the court is now treating the matter as a PIL.

Amicus Curiae Vijay Hansaria requested the court to order compensation for Yadav as was done in Lalung’s case but the court said it would look into this aspect at a later stage.

Yadav was arrested in 1968 for allegedly murdering the wife of his neighbour and after his arrest he was sent to a mental asylum in Varanasi where he remained for 38 years. When Yadav went back to his village his own son son could not recognise him.

Email Satya Prakash: satya.prakash@hindustantimes.com