Delhi High Court directs government to consult with DLSA to consider release of inmates unable to pay surety amount despite bail being granted

Source : Indlaw.com

The Delhi High Court directed the Sheila Dikshit government to have consultations with the Delhi Legal Services Authority (DLSA) member secretary to consider release of those inmates languishing in jail for years together as they have no money to pay the surety amount despite bail being granted to them. 

A bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Manmohan directed Sunil Kumar Gupta, the law officer of prisons, to consult DLSA member Secretary Asha Menon as to how those prisoners who, though they had been granted bail by the courts, cannot be set free because they cannot afford to pay the requisite surety amount. 

Mr Nazmi Waziri, counsel for the Delhi government, told the court that there are about 11,000 under trials in the ten jails, including Tihar, of whom 150-200 had been granted bail by the courts but cannot be released because they are poor and had no money to pay for their bail bonds.