Date:26/07/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/07/26/stories/2007072662400300.htm

New Delhi

Lower courts guilty of class bias: High Court

Staff Reporter

“The poor are remanded; the rich granted bail”

“Most under-trials languishing in Tihar Central Jail here for petty offences are poor people”
“Show us a single case where a taxpayer is languishing in jail for petty offences”

NEW DELHI: Accusing them of class bias and human rights violation, the Delhi High Court on Wednesday came down heavily on the lower courts here for remanding to judicial custody accused belonging to the lower strata of society while granting bail to the rich and famous.

Observing that most of the under-trials languishing in Tihar Central Jail here for petty offences were poor people, a Division Bench of the Court comprising Justice R. S. Sodhi and Justice H. R. Malhotra said: “Show us a single case where a taxpayer is languishing in jail for petty offences. Most of them are poor people, and we are hurting them by imprisoning them.”

The Bench made these observations while hearing petitions drawing the attention of the Court to the death of six inmates in jail in as many days this past June.

Referring to the nationwide public outcry over alleged illegal detention of Mohammed Haneef in Australia for allegedly extending support to a terror group, the Bench said: “The lower judiciary is insensitive in dealing with cases of petty offences where poor persons are involved.”

“Are people’s lives here meaningless? Are there no human rights for prisoners in jail without sufficient reasons?” the Bench asked.

“We have become used to prisoners languishing in the jail for years together. We care only when the issue is highlighted,” the Bench added. This past June the Court had ordered immediate release of 600 inmates lodged in Tihar Jail in connection with minor offences under Sections 107 (breach of peace) and 151 (prevention of commission of cognisable offences) of the Criminal Procedure Code (Cr.P.C.). It had also directed the police not to seek judicial custody for those charged with the two offences.

The Bench had passed the order to de-congest the jail and improve living conditions for the inmates.

A Court-appointed fact-finding committee had also reported that the six deaths had occurred due to, among other reasons, overcrowding, lack of proper medical facilities and poor sanitation.