Supreme Court Expresses Shock At Maharashtra Authorities Not Producing Accused Before Court On 55 Dates; Orders Inquiry

The Supreme Court criticised the Maharashtra Prison authorities for repeatedly failing to produce an undertrial accused before the trial court on a majority of hearing dates.The Court was dealing with a case where the accused, in custody for more than four years, was not presented before the Trial Court on 55 out of a total of 85 trial dates.While granting bail to the accused, a bench of Justices Ahsanuddin Amanullah and Prashant Kumar Mishra expressed shock at the failure of the prison authorities to ensure the petitioner's production before the court, terming it a serious violation of fundamental safeguards. The bench directed the designated Head of Department of Prisons of the State of Maharashtra to conduct an inquiry and take action against the officers concerned.“we direct the Director General of Prisons, State of Maharashtra or whoever is the designated Head of Department of Prisons, to conduct a personal inquiry into the matter and fix responsibility and take action against the persons concerned. It is made clear that if any attempt is made to protect or shield any person, the Director General of Prisons/Head of Department of Prisons to whom we are entrusting the inquiry, shall be personally held responsible for the same.”, the court ordered. The Court observed that non-production of the undertrial prisoner on the dates of hearing severely prejudiced his rights, particularly his right to report abuses inside the prison. “We are shocked at the conduct of the State authorities.The production of an accused before the Court is not only to ensure speedy trial but more importantly, as a safeguard so that the prisoner is not abused otherwise, and he comes directly in contact with the Court so as to air his grievances if any, against the authorities. We find that there has been grave infraction of such fundamental safeguard, which is appalling and shocking. We deprecate the same.”, the court remarked.Further, the Court ordered the Authority to report compliance in this regard by filing an affidavit personally affirmed by the aforesaid officer, within two months, and directed the matter to be listed on 03.02.2026 for considering the personal report of the Director General of Prisons/Head of Department of Prisons.Cause Title: SHASHI ALIAS SHAHI CHIKNA VIVEKANAND JURMANI VERSUS STATE OF MAHARASHTRA Click here to download orderAppearance: For Petitioner(s) Ms. Sana Raees Khan, Adv. Ms. Smiti Verma, Adv. Mr. Pranay Shridhar Chitale, AOR Mr. Samyak Jain, Adv. Mr. Aditya Dutta, Adv. For Respondent(s) Mr. Raman Yadav, Adv. Mr. Siddharth Dharmadhikari, Adv. Mr. Aaditya Aniruddha Pande, AOR Mr. Shrirang B. Varma, Adv.

Supreme Court Expresses Shock At Maharashtra Authorities Not Producing Accused Before Court On 55 Dates; Orders Inquiry

Yash Mittal

The production of an undertrial before the Court is a fundamental safeguard against violations, the Court observed.

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