Allahabad High Court Mandates Electronic Bail System To Uphold Personal Liberty

In a landmark directive safeguarding the fundamental right to personal liberty, the Allahabad High Court has mandated the immediate electronic transmission of bail orders to ensure that no prisoner remains

incarcerated after being granted relief. The court, through a single-judge bench of Justice Arun Kumar Singh Deshwal, directed the full utilisation of the Bail Order Management System (BOMS), stressing that delays caused by administrative and judicial laxity are an unconstitutional deprivation of freedom under Article 21.

The High Court’s intervention was prompted by the persistent failure of bail orders to reach jail authorities promptly, despite the Supreme Court’s earlier pronouncements on the matter. The Registrar (Compliance) apprised the court that the lack of specific jail details in bail applications often forced the orders to take a circuitous route through the Inspector General (Prisons) and Chief Judicial Magistrates, causing unnecessary lag. The court observed that this menace also stemmed from a practice where jail authorities often wait to release inmates only in the evening after receiving physical hard copies, a habit that directly contravenes Rule 91 of the UP Jail Manual, 2002.

To remedy these systemic failures, the court issued several crucial, binding directions. First, it mandated that all advocates filing bail applications must explicitly mention the precise jail in which the accused is currently lodged. After December 1, 2025, the High Court’s Reporting Section will not clear any bail application that fails to contain this essential detail. Second, the court directed its own criminal sections to coordinate with the National Informatics Centre (NIC) to secure direct access to the e-prison portal. This secure electronic channel is intended to facilitate the immediate transmission of bail orders directly to the concerned jail superintendent, bypassing intermediary steps. Finally, the court directed the Director General (Prison) to instruct all prison authorities to release inmates immediately upon receipt of the electronic order through BOMS, firmly prohibiting the traditional practice of late-evening releases.

The overall goal is to fully leverage technology to ensure that the accused is released the same day bail is granted, upholding the core principle that “bail is the rule, and jail is the exception.”