Disclose steps to ensure presence of undertrials before courts: High Court

Saurabh Malik

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Chandigarh, November 2

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has asked the Punjab Additional DGP to “disclose remedial steps” to ensure the presence of undertrials before trial courts either through physical or virtual mode.

The direction came after Justice Kuldeep Tiwari took cognizance of the infringement of an undertrial’s fundamental right to a fair trial in a drugs case following his repeated non-production before the trial court by the jail authorities. The Bench also asked the officer to file an affidavit on the issue by the next date of hearing in November last week.

The high court in separate proceedings has already taken cognizance of the non-appearance of official witnesses in drug cases. The direction by Justice Tiwari is significant as the jail authorities had made a “lame excuse” and attributed the “lacunae on their part” in the matter to the “deficiency of police force on account of engagement in VIP duties” instead of plausible explanation in a compliance affidavit.

The matter was placed before Justice Tiwari’s Bench after the petitioner undertrial sought the concession of regular bail in an FIR registered on September 10, 2021, under the provisions of the NDPS Act registered at Sarai Amant Khan police station in Tarn Taran district.

In his order, Justice Tiwari observed that the undertrial was arrested on September 10, 2021, and the final investigation report was filed on March 7, 2022, upon the probe’s completion. But the trial did not progress further due to his non-production by the jail authorities concerned.

“The circumstances depict a serious state of affairs as the fundamental rights of the petitioner, who is an undertrial prisoner, to have a fair trial, have been infringed, for want of his production before the trial court by the jail authorities concerned,” Justice Tiwari asserted.

Justice Tiwari asked state Advocate-General Gurminder Singh to render assistance to the court before permitting him to file a fresh compliance affidavit in the matter, stating, among other things, the reason for the undertrial’s non-production before the trial court, impeding the framing of charges.

He has also been asked to intimate the court about the further course of action proposed to be adopted by Punjab to ensure the presence of undertrials before the trial courts concerned in cases involving offences under the NDPS Act.

No further adjournment

Justice Tiwari made it clear that further adjournment would not be granted during the hearing of the petition as the present case pertained to infringement of the rights of the petitioner/undertrial prisoner languishing behind the bars due to his non-production before the trial court concerned.