New Delhi, February 13
A man incarcerated for 38 years in Faizabad in Uttar Pradesh without trial was today ordered to be released on bail by the Supreme Court, which had taken suo motu note of media reports about the plight of Jagjivan Ram Yadav held in a murder case in 1968.
“We direct that he shall be released on bail forthwith on furnishing a personal bond,” a Bench of Chief Justice Y.K. Sabharwal, Mr Justice C.K. Thakker and Mr Justice R.V. Raveendran said.
The amount of bond would be fixed by the trial court.
The court also sought reports of the UP Government about the case and medical condition of Yadav from the Medical Superintendent of Varanasi’s Mental Asylum, where he was being treated.
The order for his release was issued after the court on February 6 had sought reports from the Allahabad High Court about the status of the case of Yadav, who, according to a media report, had been forgotten by the prosecution and the court as well.
Yadav was arrested in 1968 for allegedly murdering the wife of his neighbour in a state of “unstable mental” condition.
After the arrest, he was sent for examination to Varanasi’s Mental Asylum but thereafter nobody took care of him.
His incarceration without trial only came to light in July last after a bail application for his release was moved before the Faizabad Chief Judicial Magistrate.
Surprisingly, when the Magistrate called for the hearing of his bail plea, the court staff was not able to produce any record of his case.
The apex court had taken suo motu notice of the media report about his case and issued notices to the UP Government and Allahabad High Court to seek their replies for the lapse on the part of the authorities concerned for not pursuing his case.
