The accused man Aftab was granted bail by top court on 29 April but released from Ghaziabad district jail only on 24 June, indicating a delay of 28 days
NEW DELHI — Following Supreme Court’s reprimand, the UP government on Friday said a man, whose release from prison was delayed for about a month after getting bail, has been compensated with Rs 5 lakh.
Aftab, the accused, was arrested under Section 366 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 for kidnapping or abducting a woman to induce her to marry. He was also accused of attempting forceful conversion of religion under Sections 3 and 5 of the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021, reported Supreme Court Observer.
Aftab, was granted bail by the top court on April 29 in view of the fact that his parents are Hindu and Muslim, and the marriage was performed as per Hindu rites and customs, but released from Ghaziabad district jail only on June 24 — indicating a delay of 28 days.
On June 25, the top court while pulling up the state authorities over the delay, ordered a Rs 5 lakh compensation and asked UP government to report on compliance, reported PTI.
On Friday, the state’s counsel informed a bench of Justices K V Viswanathan and N Kotiswar Singh that the state had complied with the direction and paid the compensation.
The man’s counsel confirmed having received the amount.
The top court granted bail to the accused on April 29 and subsequently on May 27, a trial court in Ghaziabad issued his release.
On June 25, when the top court was informed about the man’s release the previous day, it said liberty was a “very valuable and precious” right guaranteed under the Constitution.
The man, the top court said, had lost his liberty for at least 28 days due to a “trivial non-issue”.
The bench also took strong exception over the delay on the ground that a sub-section of a provision of Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021 was not mentioned in the bail order.
It had passed the order on a plea by the accused seeking a modification of the April 29 order to specifically include clause (1) of section 5 of the 2021 Act.
The bench then ordered an enquiry into the matter by the principal district and sessions judge, Ghaziabad.
The enquiry’s focus was directed to be on the reason behind the delay.
On June 25, the state’s counsel said the trial court’s May 27 order mentioned all details except Sub-Section (1) of Section 5 of the Act and, therefore, a plea for correction was filed by the jail authorities on May 28.
Since the application was not disposed of earlier, she said, the petitioner was not released.
The lawyer further informed the bench that the man was released post the order’s correction.
The man was booked under Section 366 (kidnapping, abducting or inducing woman to compel her marriage etc) of the erstwhile IPC and Sections 3 and 5 (Prohibition of conversion from one religion to another religion by misrepresentation, force, fraud, undue influence, coercion, allurement) of the 2021 Act.
On Friday, the bench posted the examination of the inquiry report on August 25. — WIth agency inputs
