HC raps prison Supt for disobeying release orders of convict

The Bombay High Court came down heavily on the Superintendent of Thane Central Jail for not following an order passed by it directing the release of a man awarded 30 years imprisonment by a Mauritius court in a drug case.
A division bench of Justices S C Dharmadhikari and Gautam Patel had earlier this month ordered for Prem Kishore Raj, sentenced to 30 years in jail by a court in Mauritius, to be released after observing that he can only be sentenced to ten years as he possessed small quantity of the contraband.
On Monday, Raj's lawyer Gayatri Singh and Kranti LC informed the court that despite being given a copy of the high court order the Superintendent of Thane prison where Raj is lodged, refused to release him.

Irked over it, the bench observed that the Superintendent should not have entertained any doubts about the order passed by the court allowing Raj's petition and directing the respondents to forthwith release him.
"The Superintendent should have acted upon the order and released the petitioner prisoner. We would take a very serious view if the Superintendent, even after our order passed, does not act in terms of the judgement. All authorities including the Superintendent Thane Central Prison are directed to act as per the order," the court observed.
The court was yesterday informed that Raj has been released from jail.

In May 1996, Raj was arrested by Mauritius police and found guilty a year later by a court there for possession of 371.3 grams of heroin and sentenced to 30 years in jail which was later reduced to 23 years.
In 2008, as per agreement between India and Mauritius, Raj was repatriated to India. Once here, Raj sought to be released under the Indian law.