Delhi High Court Orders Action Against Erring Jail Officers For Illegal Detention Of Man Based On 'Expired Production Warrant'

The Delhi High Court recently ordered action to be taken against erring jail officers of Tihar Jail over illegal detention of a man, despite bail and release order issued in his favour on January 20, based on an “expired production warrant” issued against him last year in an out-station case.

A division bench of Justice Suresh Kumar Kait and Justice Manoj Jain directed that the man be released from jail forthwith, observing that he was kept in illegal detention based on a production warrant in a case pending in a court in Uttar Pradesh's Gautam Buddha Nagar which expired last year.

“Despite the fact that the release order had been received on 20.01.2024 and there was no existing production warrant from G.B Nagar Court, he thus continues to be in the illegal detention. Obviously, the petitioner could not have detained on a stale production warrant which has no value in eyes of law,” the court said.

The bench was dealing with a habeas corpus plea moved by the man seeking his immediate release from jail. 

The production warrant dated September 30, 2022, was received by the jail authority in the Gautam Buddha Nagar case and the man was to be produced on October 10, 2022. However, he was never produced on the said date before the concerned Court and no further production warrant was received in the case.

“It is not in dispute that Jail Authorities at Delhi have no idea about the next date in said out-station case and they do not even know whether accused is on bail there or not. Importantly, there is no live production warrant either,” the court said.

The court was informed by Tihar Jail Superintendent that the man was sent to Gautam Buddha Nagar Court for production because of some “communication gap” and there was no date before court for the said production.

It added that there was no “live production warrant” qua the man, adding that if it all the Jail Authorities wanted to know the status, they could have sought information in 2022 itself.

“Instead of honouring said production warrant and producing the accused before said Court on 10.10.2022, it has now woken up from slumber when accused has already secured bail in cases in Delhi,” the court said.

As the DG (Prisons) assured the court that no such lapse shall take place in future, the bench clarified that if any lapse is found on the part of the officers of Jail in future, strict action shall be taken by court against them.

“Respondent/Jail Authority concerned is directed to place on record a report specifying therein action taken against the erring officers and also about remedial steps taken to ensure that such lapses do not re-occur,” the court said.

Counsel for Petitioner: Mr. Vishal Gosain, Ms. Rudrani Tyagi and Mr. Praney Sharma, Advocates

Counsel for Respondents: Mr. Sanjay Lao, Standing Counsel (Crl.), Ms. Priyam Aggarwal, Mr. Abhinav Arya, Advocates

Title: DHARAM NARAYAN GAUTAM v. STATE THROUGH ECONOMIC OFFENCES WING & ANR.

Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Del) 120

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