412 jail inmates awaiting premature release allowed interim bail by HC
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has ordered the release of 412 inmates from Punjab jails on interim bail within two weeks. Justice Harpreet Singh Brar admonished the state authorities for their evident failure to process the inmates’ applications for premature release.
“The conspicuous failure on part of the state agencies to process the applications of such a considerable number of inmates is deeply concerning. In doing so, the applicant-inmates have been subjected to further incarceration when they may be eligible to be released. Such an undisciplined approach is symptomatic of the culture of apathy that has developed on the subject of rights and wellbeing of convicts,” Justice Brar asserted.
The Bench also directed Haryana and the Union Territory of Chandigarh to file affidavits with details of premature release cases pending for the past two years.
Justice Brar said the prisoners could not be treated as “second-class citizens” and cautioned the administration against “cherry-picking” cases while denying fundamental rights.
The directions came after an affidavit dated December 10, 2024, indicated that applications for premature release filed by 412 convicts across various jails in Punjab were pending consideration. Justice Brar held that the state’s failure to consider eligible convicts for premature release amounted to a violation of Articles 14, 19 and 21 of the Constitution.
“Once eligible to be considered for premature release, according to the applicable policy, the state cannot deny them this concession without recording due reasons for the same. In fact, the state is duty-bound to act fairly and proceed according to the policy formulated by it in a manner that does not discriminate among similarly situated persons in the absence of an intelligible differentia,” the court said.
The Bench added that non-arbitrariness was a facet in Article 14 of the Constitution and the state and all its agencies were required to abide by it.
Justice Brar admonished the state by asserting: “The incarcerated cannot be expected to live at the whims and fancies of the state and neither does their incarceration entitle the administration to jeopardise their fundamental rights.”
Emphasising the constitutional guarantee of liberty and dignity, Justice Brar added: “The fundamental rights, which include right to liberty and dignity, have been granted by the Constitution, and not the state for them to be withdrawn in this undignified fashion.”
“Shockingly, some applications (of inmates) are pending for almost two years. As such, this court is left with no other option but to direct the Chief Judicial Magistrates concerned to release such prisoners on interim bail within two weeks of receipt of a certified copy of this order,” the court ruled.
Punjab