Prayagraj (UP), March 19 The Allahabad High Court has directed the Uttar Pradesh government to pay a sum of Rs 50,000 to a man after the police submitted incorrect information about his criminal record to oppose his bail plea, resulting in a 15-day delay in his release.
Justice Arun Kumar Singh Deshwal was hearing the bail plea of Furkan, who was arrested in November last year in a case related to the theft of a car.
The court granted him bail by an order dated March 10.
However, Furkan's counsel also sought an order against the police department, stating that his client could have been released on bail on February 23 but he remained in jail for 15 more days as the police had claimed that he had a criminal record of 12 cases, instead of five.
The court noted that the incorrect information was provided by the investigating officer (IO), adding that the accused had already explained the criminal history of five cases.
"Therefore, a compensation of Rs 50,000 shall be paid by the state to the applicant within a period of one month from today. From the perusal of the record, it is also clear that there was no mala fide on the part of the IO but there was a mistake because of his negligence that may be due to the workload on him," the court said on March 10.
After the accused contested the claim about his criminal history, the court summoned the additional director general of police (technical services) of Lucknow. Appearing in the court via video-conferencing on March 10, ADG Naveen Arora admitted the IO's mistake.
He also submitted that it is very easy to trace the criminal history of an accused through the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and System (CCTNS).
Arora further said that access to fetch the case diary through the Inter-operable Criminal Justice System (ICJS) was given to the joint director of prosecution at the high court but the officer refused to avail the facility due to a shortage of staff in his office.
The court then directed the director of prosecution to ensure sufficient staff in the joint director's office to enable him to avail the facility of fetching the case diary through the ICJS to prevent the delay in obtaining instructions.