Man Spends 3 Extra Yrs in Jail as Gujarat Jail Officials Fail to Open Email of Bail Order

Ahmedabad: A man had to spend three extra years in jail as officials of a Gujarat prison did not open a bail order sent as an attachment along with an email.

Taking this matter seriously, the Gujarat High Court ordered the state government to pay Rs 1 lakh to the convict within 14 days for this mistake by the jail authorities.

The convict, identified as 27-year-old Chandanji Thakor, was serving life imprisonment in a murder case. His sentence was suspended on September 29, 2020. But he was kept in jail till 2023, as the prison authorities could not open the bail order sent to them by the High Court registry.

The matter came to notice when the convict moved a fresh bail application.

The Gujarat High Court further noted that though the email was sent to District Sessions Court too, no efforts were made to see that the order releasing the convict on bail was appropriately implemented. “The present case is an eye opener,” the court stated.

Considering the seriousness of the case, the Gujarat High Court also directed all the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA)s to collect data of all prisoners who have been granted bail but may not have been released yet.