Rajesh Pandey
‘Cannot remain in prison indefinitely’, observed the Allahabad High Court while holding that if the prosecution is not interested in presenting witnesses and completing the trial, then a person cannot be kept in jail indefinitely. The court has expressed displeasure over the prosecution not presenting witnesses and evidence on time even in serious crimes and has sought a personal affidavit from the director general of police (DGP) UP asking him to apprise the court as to why the prosecution does not present witnesses on time in serious crimes.
The court asked that being the head of the police department, what steps were taken in this direction by him (DGP). Has he fixed the responsibility of the guilty police officer or person in any case, the court further asked?
While hearing the bail plea of one Manoj of Etah, Justice Sanjay Kumar Singh has also sought a report from the concerned presiding officer. He has asked to give information about the process followed so far in the trial of the case. Also, it should be told why the trial could not be completed and who is responsible for this.
The petitioner came to the high court after his three bail applications were rejected. The petitioner’s lawyer said that this is his fourth bail application. Earlier, his three bail applications have been rejected. The petitioner has been in jail since 2017. The lawyer said that in the last seven and a half years, the prosecution has presented only three witnesses and there is no hope of completing the trial of the case in the near future. Which is a violation of the guidelines issued by the Supreme Court, he added.
On this, the court said that it is constantly being seen that even in serious cases, the prosecution does not present the witnesses on time. Due to this the trial of many cases is pending.
If the prosecution is not interested in presenting witnesses and completing the trial, then a person cannot be kept in jail indefinitely, the court said.
The court in its order dated September 27 has directed the DGP and the presiding officer to submit their reply before passing any order on the bail application.
