Bail for Shivdan Ganju
(Copy of the
letter sent to The Chairperson, National Human Rights Commission, Sardar Patel
Bhawan,
New Delhi - 110 001)
D/Sir,
Ref: - Your No. 1297/4/98-99 dt 11/1/2000
We intimated to you that the Ranchi Bench of Patna High Court has granted bail
to Shri Shivdan Ganju on 11.7.2000.
We are pleased inform you now that we have completed the formalities of arranging
two bailers, one of them is his father, as required, on 9.8.2000 at Lohardaga
CJM Court. Now Shri Shivdan Ganju has been released from Ranchi Remand Home.
He will be soon talking up the work of screen-printing to support his aged and
poor parents.
You requested us to take up the case of Shri Shivdan Ganju and to arrange to
get him released on Bail, vide your order sheet dt. 3.10.'98 and the letter
dt. 8.10.'98 from Sr. SP (Now addl. DIG) Mr. Shivaji Singh.
Since then we moved the Bail Petition at CJM Court and letter to Additional
Judicial Court Lohardaga but on both occasion the bail were rejected. Even for
a date for hearing of Bail Petition, the lower Courts took unnecessarily long
time.
We thereafter took out the certified copies from Lohardaga Court and filed the
Bail Petition at Ranchi Bench of Patna High Court and this time High Court called
for report on the stage of the trial and later called for the papers from the
lower Court. This process also took considerable time. And finally, on 11.7.2000,
Ranchi Bench of Patna High Court ordered Shivdan to be released on Bail on furnishing
two Bailers, of which one should be, his father. This we have arranged and now
Shivdan has been released from Remand Home Ranchi on 9.8.2000.
Shivdan Ganju was taken in custody on 10.9.'94 as a minor boy of 12 years and
now almost after six years he is an adult of 18 years. He was taken into custody
from a village in Palamu District purely on suspicion and even after six years,
his trial has not yet been started. His name did not appear in the FIR too.
Hundreds and thousands of "Shivdan Ganju" are languishing in Jails
for years together as 'under trial' prisoners. Since the formation of National
Human Rights Commission in 1993 and the movement carried on by different Human
Rights groups & activists, including PUCL, a serious look has to be given
to analyze what we have achieved in our effort to reform police, jails, and
Judiciary.
Thanking you,
Yours faithfully,
For PUCL Jamshedpur
(S. Bhattacharjee)
President& Member of National Council
(The footnote is that the NHRC, contrary to the assurances to the Jamshedpur
PUCL, is not reimbursing the amount of Rs six thousand spent by it -General
Secretary)
(PUCL Bulletin, Sept., 2000)