India News | Man Missing from Kolkata Correctional Home, HC Seeks Report

Kolkata, Dec 30 (PTI) Expressing dissatisfaction over a report filed by the superintendent of Presidency Correctional Home here on a habeas corpus petition in which a man claimed that his father who was in judicial remand in the facility was not traceable after being granted bail, the Calcutta High Court on Thursday directed the West Bengal government to file another report.

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Directing the superintendent of the correctional home to be personally present before the court on the next date of hearing with the original register and other documents showing that the accused had been released from the correctional home on December 21 as claimed in the report, the high court said it is the duty of the authorities to ensure that accused Ranjit Bhowmick is recovered specially because his family contends that he went missing from Presidency Correctional Home.

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"This court is not satisfied with the report filed today. Prima facie, it appears that the authorities of the Presidency Correctional Home have not proceeded according to the jail code," a vacation bench comprising justices Shampa Sarkar and Bibhas Ranjan De said in its order.

The bench noted that the government pleader submitted that the accused was released at 7.52 pm on December 21, after being granted bail by a lower court the same day, whereas, this has not been recorded in the report.

The bench said that because of the procedural irregularity and given the discrepancy in the statements made before the court and the information contained in the report, a further report be produced before the regular bench about the attempt made for Bhowmick's recovery.

It directed that the CCTV footage of the office of the Superintendent of Presidency Correctional Home of December 21, 2021, be produced before the court to substantiate that the accused was brought back from the lower court and made to sit in the office and thereafter released at 7.52 pm.

The court directed that the matter will come up for hearing on January 4, 2022, before the regular bench after the high court reopens following the winter recess.

Observing that the jail authorities have, prima facie, not proceeded according to law, the court said that the apprehension of the petitioner is that he succumbed to his illness in jail and the factum of death has not been correctly reported.

According to the report, accused Ranjit Bhowmick was granted bail by the additional chief judicial magistrate, Uluberia on December 21, and the bail bond was furnished before the court itself and it directed that the accused be released at once.

The report stated that the accused was thereafter taken to Presidency Correctional Home to check if there was any other case pending against him and when it was found that there was none, he was released forthwith.

"Surprisingly, the report is silent as to the time when the accused was taken to the Presidency Correctional Home and ultimately at what time the accused was released," the bench noted.

The government pleader contended that the accused was not taken back into jail but released from the office of the superintendent without making an entry in the register because there was no other case pending against him and also because the lower court had directed the accused be released forthwith.

"This is not acceptable by the court," the bench said.

Another vacation bench of the court had on December 27 had directed the state to submit a report before it by December 30 on the habeas corpus petition filed by the man's son.

The petitioner claimed that his father Ranjit Bhowmick, who was arrested in connection with a case of alleged possession of spurious liquor, had gone missing from the correctional home.

It was claimed by petitioner Buddhadeb Bhowmick that his father was arrested in connection with the case with Bagnan police station in Howrah district and was remanded to judicial custody by the Uluberia court.

The petitioner stated that owing to the deteriorating health of Bhowmick, he was transferred from Uluberia sub-divisional correctional home to Presidency Correctional Home n Kolkata on December 12.

The petitioner claimed that upon going to Presidency correctional home with relevant documentation to secure the release of his father on December 22, the jail authorities informed him that Ranjit Bhowmick had been released at 8 pm on December 21.

Alleging possible foul play at the correctional home leading to his father going untraceable, the petitioner stated that missing complaints were filed at the Alipore police station here on December 23 and with the superintendent of police, Howrah rural district, on December 24.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)