Calcutta HC grants conditional bail to HIV-positive prisoner after 15 years

Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court has granted conditional bail to a man suffering from HIV. He was serving a life sentence. The court made this decision based on the fact that he has been in prison for nearly 15 years and that an appeal against his sentence is still pending. A two-judge bench headed by Justice Rajasekhar Mantha stated that the appeal was unlikely to be heard in the near future. Therefore, the court suspended his sentence until the appeal is resolved. Justice Ray Chattopadhyay was also on the bench. The court directed that the accused be released on bail on a surety bond of Rs 10,000 and two sureties, one of whom must be a local person. Also read: TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee falls victim to cyber fraud; fraudsters siphon ₹5.5 million from his account According to the jail superintendent's report, the accused was lodged in the Jalpaiguri Correctional Home and has spent 14 years, 11 months, and 24 days in prison so far. In an order issued on Thursday, the High Court stated that the accused's conduct in prison has been good and no negative reports have been received against him. Fellow inmates also reported that he is cooperative and has no complaints against him. The court also directed that the accused will not leave the jurisdiction of the Jaygaon police station in Jalpaiguri district without permission and will report to the police station once every month until further orders from the court. Also read: "If it were possible, it would have been done by now," Maneka on Supreme Court's order to remove stray dogs The public prosecutor told the court that the accused had rented a room with a woman, but the next day he vacated the room and the woman's body was found in the room. The Jalpaiguri Sessions Court had convicted the accused of the woman's murder and sentenced him to life imprisonment. The High Court said that his appeal will now be heard in March.