Written by Ashish ShajiNew Delhi | Updated: November 18, 2025 11:29 AM IST 3 min readThe court said that it cannot remain a mute spectator. (This image is generated using AI)The Patna High Court has granted Rs 2 lakh to a man after it held that he was illegally detained for five days in jail despite being granted bail.ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW VIDEOA bench of Justices Rajeev Ranjan Prasad and Sourendra Pandey directed the state to pay the compensation to the accused within a month.“A consolidated amount of Rs 2 lakh would be a reasonable amount which may be awarded to the petitioner by way of compensation for his unauthorized detention by the Jail Superintendent, Central Jail, Gaya Jee,” the order said.The direction came after the bench was informed that the man who was facing charges under the anti-liquor law in Bihar was granted bail by a trial court in Gaya and warrants of his release were issued on September 29.Earlier, the superintendent of the jail concerned received a production warrant from a magisterial court in Buxar requiring the man’s production in another case registered on theft charge.The jail superintendent, however, did not produce him before the Buxar court on September 4 despite the production warrant. It was alleged that the accused was kept confined to the prison on the basis of the production warrant.The court was informed by the man’s counsel, advocates Siddharth Harsh and Jitendra Kumar that the date fixed in the production warrant had already expired and once the date expired and the order of release reached the Superintendent of Central Jail, Gaya, the accused should have been released.Story continues below this adIt was pointed out that the accused was produced before the Buxar court on October 17.On November 12, the bench said that the accused was illegally detained for 18 days and it had directed the inspector general (IG) of Prisons and Correctional Services, Bihar to appear before the court to decide on the award of compensation on November 13.The high court on the next day was informed that the accused was made to virtually appear before the Buxar court on October 4 and was remanded to custody until October 17.After the state and prison authorities informed that the actual detention was five days and not 18 days, the bench said it cannot remain a silent spectator being a constitutional court.Story continues below this ad“There being an admitted position that it is a case of unauthorised detention of the petitioner from 29.09.2025 until 04.10.2025 and this practice is going on without drawing much attention of the Department, this Court being a Constitutional Court cannot remain a silent spectator,” it said.Observing that the practice of unlawful detention of accused persons was going on in other jurisdictions of the state, the court directed the IG, Prisons and Correctional Service to issue guidelines to all the jail superintendents in the state to strictly abide by the constitutional mandate.Ashish Shaji is working as the Senior Sub-Editor at the Indian Express. He specializes in legal news, with a keen focus on developments from the courts. A law graduate, Ashish brings a strong legal background to his reporting, offering readers in-depth coverage and analysis of key legal issues and judicial decisions. In the past Ashish has contributed his valuable expertise with organisations like Lawsikho, Verdictum and Enterslice. ... Read More© IE Online Media Services Pvt LtdTags:illegal detentionPatna High Court