'Travesty of justice': SC summons UP jailor for not releasing man despite bail

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday expressed its displeasure upon being informed that a man has not yet been released from jail, despite having been granted bail in April in a case under UP's anti-conversion law.

The top court termed it a 'travesty of justice', and sought the personal appearance of superintendent jailor of the district jail, Ghaziabad on June 25.

A bench of Justices K V Viswanathan and N Kotiswar Singh took a strong exception after the man claimed that he was not released on bail on the ground that a subsection of a provision of the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021 was not mentioned in the bail order.

The bench said if sub-clause were to be the reason for the detention of the petitioner then it would initiate contempt proceedings because it is a matter of liberty.

The court noted that it had granted bail to the man on April 29, and a trial court in Ghaziabad on May 27 issued a release order to the superintendent jailor upon execution of the personal bond, unless liable to be detained in some other matter.

Referring to its April 29 order, the court said the appellant should be released on bail during the pendency of trial in the FIR of January 3, 2024, registered with a police station at Ghaziabad, on conditions set by the trial court.

“It is a travesty of justice that on the ground that the sub-section was not mentioned, the petitioner... is till date kept behind bars. This calls for a serious inquiry," the bench said.

The bench noted that the petitioner has now sought a modification of the April 29 order to specifically include Clause (1) of Section 5 of the 2021 Act.

However, the bench made it clear to the petitioner’s counsel that if it finds that the counsel’s statement is not correct or the petitioner was detained due to some other case, serious action will be taken.