New Delhi: The Gujarat high court has ordered the state government to pay Rs 1 lakh in compensation to a prisoner who continued to languish in jail for three years after he had secured a regular bail. Although he was granted bail in September 2020, he was not let out simply because prison authorities did not open the email attachment of the bail order sent out to them by the high court registry.A division bench of Justice A.S. Supehia and Justice M.R. Mengdey passed the order on Tuesday, September 26, after the 27-year-old prisoner, Chandanji Thakor, moved the high court seeking redressal.Calling it an “eye-opener” to the delays in executing bail orders and releasing prisoners, the court, according to Bar and Bench, said, “The applicant, though was released and could have enjoyed his freedom, was forced to remain in jail only because no attention was paid by the jail authorities to contact the Registry or Sessions Court with regard to the order passed by this Court.”The court blaming the jail authorities for the “serious lapse”, ordered them to pay Rs 1 lakh in compensation to Thakor within 14 days.Earlier, the prison authorities had told the court that the necessary action on the bail order could not be taken as the COVID-19 pandemic was raging at that time. The prisoner, who was convicted in a murder case, had his life imprisonment sentence suspended by the high court on September 29, 2020. After the court order, an email was duly sent by the high court registry with the attachment of the bail order to prison authorities. However, they did not notice the email.The court also pulled up the local district sessions court for failing to ensure the implementation of the bail order. It also pointed out that even the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) had failed to communicate to the prison authorities the court order suspending the sentence of the prisoner in question.Against this backdrop, the court ordered all DLSAs in the state to collect data on all prisoners who secured bail but have not been released for the want of surety or non-execution of the jail bonds or for any other reason. The court said it would hold another hearing on the matter on October 18 to ensure compliance with its orders by the authorities concerned.Taking stock of the overcrowded prisons and delays in executing bail orders, the Supreme Court in February this year issued a set of seven guidelines to avoid delays. One of the guidelines says jail superintendents are held fully responsible if a prisoner is not released within seven days after they secure bail. If the release of the prison is delayed due to any reason, prison superintendents are called upon to take necessary steps to ensure their speedy release.Even President Droupadi Murmu in November last year had called upon the authorities concerned to ensure prisoners’ rights. Her speech at the valedictory session of the Law Day celebrations organised by the Supreme Court had drawn attention to the overcrowding of jails, the social identity of those languishing in prisons, and prolonged pretrial detention. The president didn’t mince her words.