Bail plea withdrawn in case of alleged call from Colvale jail

PANAJI

A bail application filed by an accused who was alleged to have contacted the complainant from inside jail was withdrawn before the High Court of Bombay at Goa. The court has fixed another hearing to review a compliance report on security measures at the prison.

The application was filed by Chandu Patil. However, his counsel sought permission to withdraw it after informing the court that the trial programme had already been filed before the trial court. The bench of Justice Neela Gokhale allowed the request and disposed of the bail plea as withdrawn.

The matter had earlier come to the court’s attention after a complaint claimed that the accused had called the complainant from inside Colvale Central Jail and asked about the case.

Following directions from the high court, jail authorities started action under the Goa Prison Rules, 2021 and issued a show-cause notice to the accused. Officials also introduced preventive and disciplinary measures after the allegation.

The court later took on record several reports filed through the state. These included an interim report explaining steps taken by prison authorities to carry out a security audit to address illegal mobile phone use and related security lapses inside the jail.

A separate report was also filed by the Children’s Court, which had received the original complaint about the alleged phone calls from prison.

Earlier orders of the high court noted that the reports showed “substantial progress” by authorities to fix the lapses and prevent misuse of mobile phones and other security breaches in prisons. The court also said it expected other authorities approached by the jail administration to cooperate in resolving the issue.

The state has been directed to file a compliance report by March 16.

The High Court has listed the matter on March 17 to place the compliance report on record and issue further directions.