Ahmedabad: The Gujarat high court strongly criticized the Sabarmati jail authority for failing to release a life convict, despite the court issuing bail order three years ago. The court also told state government to compensate the man with Rs 1 lakh for unlawfully detaining him for three years after the bail order was issued.

Justice A S Supehia, leading the bench, expressed frustration with the management of the Mehsana sessions court and the Sabarmati jail for neglecting the email containing the bail order sent for prisoner Chandanji Thakor, who was sentenced to life imprisonment in a murder case in 2020.

The HC had suspended Thakor’s sentence in September 2020 and sent an email to both the court and the prison notifying them of this decision. However, the Mehsana court did not notice the email, and although the jail authority received it, they couldn’t open the attachment containing the bail order.

Following the High Court’s reprimand, Thakor was finally released on September 21. On September 22, the High Court ordered compensation for the prisoner and criticized the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) for failing to address Thakor’s case, as it is responsible for bringing such cases to the court’s attention. DeshGujarat