New Delhi: When Jai Prakash, 47, returned to his village Kamalpur in Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday, everything had changed. His father was paralyzed and his mother, brother and sister passed away. Now he could not even speak his mother tongue Bhojpuri fluently. The last time Prakash came home was two decades ago, when he went out in search of work to help support his poor family.
Then, as far as his relatives knew, he fell off the face of the earth. What he did not know was that in October 2000 he had somehow reached Jammu, where he was arrested for possession of unlicensed ammunition. The offenses in question were bailable, but Prakash remained in prison for the next 22 years.
Considered to be of “unsound mind”, he never went to trial and there was no one to pay a surety bond of Rs 30,000. For most of his detention, officials did not even know his name, giving his case a somewhat unusual name: “State v. Person Whose Photo Is Placed on File, Name Not Known”.
Then, this August came a stroke of ‘luck’. Jai Prakash was included in the list of undertrial prisoners who were granted special remission as part of the government’s ‘Amrit Mahotsav of Independence’ to mark 75 years of India’s independence.
It was then that his cousin Sudama Parshad was informed about Prakash’s presence in Jammu’s Amphalla district. After this the councilor presented the bail amount and Jai Prakash was finally released on bail on this Monday and he reached his village after two days.
Meanwhile, in September, Prakash, through his lawyer Irfan Khan, filed a writ petition in the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court seeking compensation of Rs 50 lakh for “illegal detention without any justification”. The petition stated that the case against him was “false and frivolous”.
Here’s a look back at Prakash’s harrowing ordeal and why it took so long for his family to trace his whereabouts even after he was identified.
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‘Missing Report Filed’
Jai Prakash was a good student as a child and could read and write in English, his cousin Sudama Prasad told ThePrint.
“He left home because of the poor financial condition of his family. His family is one of the poorest in our village,” he said.
However, the Government Railway Police (GRP), Jammu arrested Prakash in October 2000 for allegedly violating Sections 3 and 25 of the Arms Act, which provide for license to obtain firearms and ammunition, and both bailable Provides for the punishment of offences.
According to the petition, the police claimed that 34 live AK-47 rounds were recovered from him at the time of his arrest.
The councilors were seen infuriated by this allegation. According to him, it seemed odd that Prakash was linked to weapons because he was easily scared, “even by a three-year-old child”.
Meanwhile, a January 2001 order by the city court noted that no one appeared on behalf of the accused to submit the bail application. It was also the order that led to the curious naming of his case.
In a report submitted to the city court in 2001, he was found to be of “distorted mind” by the Head of Department (HOD) of Psychiatry, Government College, Jammu.
But Prakash was not forgotten back home. The writ petition refers to the filing of a missing report by Prakash’s family at the local police station before the proceedings began.
“Nothing happened in the missing person report. As so many people leave the village and do not come back, we thought he is one such,” said the councillor.
‘The name and address were known by 2014’
Speaking to ThePrint, advocate Irfan Khan said that even if convicted, Prakash could have been jailed for at least three years. “But he remained without trial during these years,” Khan said.
The petition alleged that his “illegal detention” was in violation of the fundamental right guaranteed under Article 21 [Right to life and personal liberty],
It was added, “He [is] Now almost mad and living in worse condition due to negligence… During the period of illegal detention, he lost his mother and real brother and his old father is waiting for him”. Prakash’s cousin told ThePrint that he too had lost his sister.
“It should be questioned why this exercise [of releasing him on bail] When the jail authorities made his Aadhaar card in 2014, in which he had enrolled his name, it was not done [Jai Parkash] and address [Kamalpur, Banaras]as well as his father’s name [Murli]asked Khan.
The writ petition states that in 2014, the Amphalla District Jail Superintendent (SP) had initiated the process of making Aadhaar cards. At that time, Prakash clearly mentioned his correct name, as well as his father’s details of his village, tehsil, post office and district, and the same card was sent by the Aadhaar department to the postal address given by him, the petition further added. Gone.
The councilor said that his family had got Aadhaar card but there was no indication of his being in jail. “Why was the family not informed that he was in jail when the card was sent to his address,” he asked.
,[It was] duty of respondent number four [Amphalla district jail SP] At least to convey the message to the respondents number two and three [Senior Superintendent, Railway Police & Station House Officer, GRP, Jammu] Nothing was done but for verification of the address,” submitted the petition.
,Very sorry situation’
The writ petition has sought quashing of criminal charges against Prakash, while also asking the Civil Secretariat of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir to initiate a departmental inquiry against police and prison officials.
Single Bench Justice Sanjay Dhar, in his interim order dated September 19, said, “The allegations made in the writ petition, if taken at face value, present a very regrettable position which is prevalent among the magistrate, police and jail authorities.” Is. ,
According to the writ petition, Prakash was arrested when the police, who were on patrolling duty, saw him moving without shoes with a polythene bag in his pant.
The petition further mentions that after investigation, the police submitted the charge sheet before the JMIC (City Judge) court, stating that he “seems to be insane”.
The 2001 court order mentioned earlier found him to be of “unsound mind” as claimed in the charge sheet and sent him to judicial custody and the police to get him medically examined by the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of Jammu. was instructed.
According to a May 2001 order, based on Prakash’s psychiatric evaluation, the city judge held that the man was suffering from chronic mental illness and directed the Superintendent of Police, District Jail, Jammu, to admit him for treatment. The judge also asked to present the recovery report in the court.
To this, the HC said: “The file appears to have been sent on record by the learned Magistrate without passing any further order in the matter and without holding any inquiry in the matter.”
Khan explained that the words “sent to records” meant that the case was “temporarily closed”.
The High Court has issued notice to the state asking it to file its reply. The hearing is scheduled for January 31, 2023.
The writ petition also draws attention to the alleged negligence on the part of respondent no.4 (SP, Amphalla District Jail). ,[He was] Provided only food and shelter, playing with fundamental rights (sic),” it said.
Modi calls for the release of undertrial prisoners
Two-thirds of the prisoners lodged in jails across the country are undertrials. As part of the ‘Amrit Mahotsav of Independence’, Prime Minister Modi had called for his early release as he had been jailed for years without legal aid.
According to the writ petition, the corporator came to know about Prakash’s detention in Jammu from Dhina police station in UP. The Jammu Police approached the police station as it was on the list of undertrials who were granted special immunity.
Prasad said that after that he went to Jammu and met him in Amphalla Jail. He added that Prakash was “excited” to see him. “He said in Punjabi, ‘My brother has come’ and hugged me.”
After the corporator furnished a bond, the City Judge/Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMIC) on Monday directed the in-charge of Amphala District Jail to release Jai Prakash, order him to go to a psychiatric hospital for treatment and produce him before the court I asked to present. As and when he is able to prosecute. This happened parallel to the writ petition.
For Prakash, settling back into life as he knew it 22 years ago would not be possible, even though he was warmly welcomed into the village, garlanded by villagers and dressed in new clothes. His cousin said that he has lost his control over Bhojpuri, but he is trying to speak it.
(Editing by Therese Sudip)
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