New Delhi, May 27 (IANS) In a significant step to address delays in the release of prisoners after the grant of bail, the Delhi High Court has directed jail authorities to use Aadhaar QR code-based verification for sureties and related credentials to expedite the process of accepting bail bonds.

A Division Bench of Justices Prathiba M. Singh and Amit Mahajan issued the directions while dealing with a suo motu case concerning delays by Jail Superintendents in accepting bail bonds even after courts had granted bail or suspended sentences.

The Delhi High Court directed that verification of sureties and related credentials may be carried out by scanning the secure QR code embedded in Aadhaar cards through applications such as the Aadhaar QR Scanner App, mAadhaar App and Aadhaar App.

“After obtaining the said details from the above Apps and any further details provided by the under-trial or convict, if further verification is needed, the same would be undertaken in an expeditious manner,” the Justice Singh-led Bench said.

It further directed that verification of fixed deposits or other monetary instruments furnished as surety should continue to be done through email communication with banks and financial institutions, while asking such entities to respond promptly to requests raised by jail authorities.

“If necessary, the Jail Superintendents are also free to communicate this order to the Banks whenever they are seeking verification,” the Delhi High Court said.

The directions came in the backdrop of concerns raised by the Delhi High Court over prolonged delays in release of prisoners despite grant of bail.

The suo motu proceedings were initiated after a single-judge Bench noticed that a convict whose sentence had been suspended remained in jail for more than a week as the Jail Superintendent had not accepted the bail bonds.

“The object of granting bails and suspending sentences is to release the accused/convict from imprisonment,” the Delhi High Court had earlier observed while expressing concern over delays in verification procedures.

–IANS

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