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DATED: 20 - 03 - 2013
CORAM
V. Senthilkumar .. Petitioner
Vs.
3. The Secretary
Legal Aid
High Court of Madras
Chennai ..
Respondents
Petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India praying for the issuance
of a Writ of Mandamus directing the respondents to take necessary action to release
on own bails without any surety throughout Tamil Nadu prisoners who are
detaining for a long time without proper procedure of Laws, Supreme Court
directions and Human Rights violation.
ORDER
(made by ELIPE DHARMA RAO, J.)
3. Heard the learned counsel appearing for the petitioner and the
learned Public Prosecutor representing the respondents and perused the records.
7. The question with regard to the power of the High Courts to enlarge a
person on his own bond without sureties was considered by the Hon'ble Supreme
Court in the decision reported in (1978) 4 SCC 47 (Moti Ram and others v. State of
Madhya Pradesh). While considering the question whether the Court, under the
Code of Criminal Procedure, can enlarge on his own bond without sureties, a person
undergoing incarceration for a non-bailable offence either as under-trial or as
convict who has appealed or sought special leave, the Hon'ble Supreme Court
observed as follows :-
"21. We have explained later that the power of the Supreme Court to enlarge
a person during the pendency of a Special Leave Petition or of an appeal is very
wide, as Order 212 Rule 27 of the Supreme Court Rules discloses. In that sense, a
consideration of the question as to whethe the High Court or the subordinate courts
have pwers to enlarge a person on his own bond without sureties may not strictly
arise. Even so, the guidelines which prevail with the Supreme Court when granting
suspension of sentence must, in a broad sense, have relevance to what the Code
indicates except where special circumstances for a different course...."
The Hon'ble Supreme Court, after analysing Sections 445, 441(2) and (3) and
389(1) of Cr.P.C., proceeded further to observe as follows :-
"The court of appeal may release a convict on his own bond without sureties.
Surely, it cannot be that an under-trial is worse off than a convict or that the power
of the court to release increases when the guilt is established. It is not the court's
status but the applicant's guilt status that is germane. That a guilty man may claim
judicial liberation pro tempore without sureties while an undertrial cannot is a
reductio ad absurdem."
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Sl. Prison Number of prisoners Number of
Prisoners
No. in Jail to be released
without on executing own
bond
furnishing surety (See the list
given below)
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1 Central Prison II, Puzhal,
Chennai 45 26
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2 Central Prison, Vellore 14 6
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3 Special Prison for Women,
Vellore 7
Rejected
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4 Central Prison, Cuddalore 2 Rejected
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5 Central Prison, Trichy 28 17
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6 Special Prison for Women,
Trichy 6 3
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7 Central Prison, Salem 19 7
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8 Central Prison, Coimbatore 13 1
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9 Central Prison, Madurai 3
Rejected
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10 Central Prison, Palayamcottai 13 6
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11 Borstal School and
District Jail Pudukkottai 6 Rejected
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12 Central Prison, Madurai 7 7
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Total 163 73
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Rejected
Rejected
Rejected
Rejected
gri
To
1. The Chief Secretary
Government of Tamil Nadu
Fort St. George
Chennai
3. The Secretary
Legal Aid
High Court of Madras
Chennai