Delhi High Court Orders Aadhaar QR Verification To Speed Up Prisoners Release, Flags Delay In Accepting Bail Bonds
Nupur Thapliyal
27 May 2026 5:14 PM IST
The Delhi High Court has observed that delay in accepting bail bonds defeat the very purpose of bail orders, while directing all Jail Superintendents across the national capital to use Aadhaar QR code-based verification to expedite release of prisoners.
A division bench comprising Justice Prathiba M. Singh and Justice Amit Mahajan was dealing with a suo motu petition initiated over delays in release of prisoners despite grant of bail orders.
The Court noted that data placed before it showed that, on average, one to two weeks were being consumed in verification by jail authorities after bail orders were passed.
“A perusal of the above data would show that on an average one to two weeks from the date of bail order are required by Jail Superintendent for verifying details,” the Court recorded.
It observed that prima facie, the average time between release of convicts or undertrials after bail orders are granted is approximately five to six days and in several cases, person is released after one day itself, whereas, in some cases, the delay is as much as thirty-three days or fifty-six days as well.
The proceedings arose from an order passed by a Single Judge on February 19, 2024, taking serious note of the fact that a prisoner was not released even a week after suspension of sentence and grant of bail.
During the hearing on May 22, the Delhi Police informed the Court that verification earlier required physical visits by police personnel to banks and addresses of sureties. However, email-based verification from banks was now being received more promptly.
The Court directed that all Jail Superintendents shall undertake verification of sureties and related credentials through QR code scanning on Aadhaar cards using applications such as Aadhaar QR Scanner App, mAadhaar App and Aadhaar App.
The Court further directed that verification of fixed deposits or monetary instruments furnished as surety shall continue through email communication with banks and financial institutions, which are expected to respond promptly.
“Let the UIDAI file a short affidavit setting out the manner in which the approval has been given to the Ministry of Home Affairs is being implemented across all jails in the country. The affidavit shall also set out the manner in which the directions given by the Punjab and Haryana High Court, as also the Karnataka High Court, are being implemented in the respective trial Courts for authentication/ verification through Aadhar,” the Court said.
The matter has now been listed for further hearing on August 14.
Title: COURT ON ITS OWN MOTION v. DIRECTOR GENERAL OF PRISONS, GOVT OF NCT OF DELHI
