SHILLONG: Concerned over the plight of UTPs who were not produced before the court for long and are languishing in jails, the High Court of Meghalaya in an interim order asked the Government to ensure that they are produced before the magistrates.
The June 16 order is following the initiative of the Meghalaya State Legal Services Authority which filed a PIL in the Court seeking its intervention.
The petition in this regard said that on June 2, the Member Secretary, Meghalaya State Legal Services Authority along with District and Sessions Judge, ADM, Jowai, Judicial Magistrate and some staff had visited the District Jail, West Jaintia Hills, Jowai. During the course of the visit and enquiry, it was found that as many as 65UTPs from East Jaintia Hills, Khliehriat had been languishing in jail without any necessary remand orders from the Magistrate concerned.
Though the matter was related to Jowai, the High Court said that the interim order should also be extended to other UTPs of the other districts, who are languishing now in jail without necessary remand orders.
The section 167(2) of the CrPC provides that no Magistrate shall authorize detention in any custody under this section unless the accused is produced before him for the first time and for further custody, the Magistrate may extend further custody on production of the accused either in person or through the medium of electronic video linkage.
As per section 167 of the CrPC, the Court felt that it is crystal clear that no UTPs can be detained in jail without necessary remand orders from the Magistrate concerned. The court observed that it appears that the D.G (Prisons) has not yet prepared the list of all the UTPs in the state now languishing in jail.
The D.G. Prisons in a letter had asked the Meghalaya State Legal Services Authority to take up steps for releasing the accused persons, if necessary, on bail. However, the Court said it is the duty of the jail authority as well as the investigating officer of the concerned case to see that the UTPs now in jail custody are produced before the concerned Magistrate in compliance with section 167 of the CrPC.
The Apex Court had also held that detaining of UTPs without necessary remand orders from the concerned Magistrate is illegal and the erring officers are liable to pay the damages for such illegal detention.
The Meghalaya State Legal Services Authority in compliance with the different directions of the Apex Court as well as request of the Union Home Ministry had constituted District Jail Visiting Committees for all the districts of the State and the Committees had visited the Jowai District Jail and on such visit, it was found out that many of the UTPs of East Jaintia Hills,Khliehriat are languishing in jail without necessary remand orders and the Court reiterated that the UTPs languishing in jail without necessary remand orders is very highly illegal
“As an ad-interim measure, this Court directs the D G Prisons, the DG Police, the Superintendent of Police, East Jaintia Hills District, Khliehriat , the Superintendent of District Jail, Jowai and the Jailor, District Jail, Jowai, West Jaintial Hills district to take immediate steps in compliance with the mandatory requirement under Section 167 of the CrPC. to produce the ) UTPs from East Jaintia Hills, Khliehriat now languishing in district Jail, Jowai before the concerned Magistrate.
The respondents had been directed to submit the compliance report within a period of two weeks and the case was listed for June 30 for further hearing.