File affidavit on undertrial escorts: High court

AHMEDABAD: Gujarat high court on Thursday asked the state government to file an affidavit on the issue of availability of police personnel for escorting prisoners to courts and the facility of video-conferencing in jails.

The bench of Chief Justice Bhaskar Bhattacharya and Justice J B Pardiwala sought details from the government within three weeks, after the court received a complaint from an undertrial in Bhavnagar, Prakash Patel. The prisoner wrote a letter to the court expressing a grievance that on most occasions, he is not produced before the court. The reasons for his non-production are either unavailability of cops or vehicles. Due to the lapse in procedure, court proceedings do not move further.

The court took suo motu cognizance of the issue on the complaint of delay in trial and asked the government pleader Prakash Jani to explain this. Senior counsel submitted that the state government has made arrangements for video-conferencing in 12 districts so undertrial prisoners could address courts from prisons. He submitted that the facility was introduced to beat the problem of unavailability of police personnel and resources. The division bench asked Jani to state the details on affidavit and scheduled a further hearing.