A man behind bars since May had one thing he did not want to miss: the physical test for a Home Guard recruitment, fixed for a single morning. The High Court let him take it, but on tight terms, released for the day into police custody, escorted throughout by two constables, and back inside the jail by six in the evening. A small order, but a reminder that being in custody need not mean forfeiting a shot at a job, so long as the release is closely controlled.
Prayagraj: The Allahabad High Court has granted a few hours of short-term bail to a man in judicial custody so that he could appear in the physical test for Uttar Pradesh Home Guard vacancies, directing that he be released for the day in police custody under escort and returned to jail the same evening [Anuj Kumar Tiwari @ Gulu v. State of U.P.].
Justice Rajeev Bharti, at the Lucknow Bench, allowed the short-term bail application after the applicant produced his admit card for the test.
The application
The applicant, in jail at the District Jail, Raebareli since May 2026, moved a short-term bail application seeking to participate in the physical test for Home Guard vacancies, scheduled for September 16, 2026 at a sports college in Fatehpur at 7:00 a.m. His counsel placed the admit card on record. He is an accused in a criminal case registered at Jagatpur police station, Raebareli, under several provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita; the State did not dispute the facts placed before the Court.
ALSO READ: Jailed J&K MP Engineer Rashid Gets Court Nod To Attend Parliament: July 24-August 4
The order and its conditions
Finding it appropriate to permit the applicant to attend the test, the Court granted short-term bail for September 16, but hedged it with strict conditions to preserve custody throughout. The applicant was to be released from jail at 4:30 a.m. that day and to remain in police custody until 6:00 p.m., in the custody of two police constables who would escort him throughout the period.
The Court directed the Superintendent of Police, Raebareli, to release the applicant from jail into that police custody at the appointed hour and to ensure that his custody was handed back to the Superintendent of Jail by 6:00 p.m., with the directions to be complied with in letter and spirit. The two police personnel deputed with the applicant were to keep a watch on his activities during the period, and he was to be permitted to attend the physical test. The Registry was directed to serve a copy of the order on the Superintendent of Police and the Superintendent of Jail within 24 hours for compliance.
Why it matters
Short-term or escorted bail of this kind is a modest but meaningful tool. A person in custody, particularly an undertrial who has not been convicted, does not automatically lose the ability to pursue a livelihood, an education or a time-bound opportunity that cannot wait for the trial to end. A recruitment test held on a fixed date is exactly such an opportunity: miss it, and the chance is gone. By allowing a narrow, tightly controlled release, the Court preserved that chance without loosening custody, the applicant remained, in law, in the custody of the escorting police throughout.
The design of the order is the point. Release at 4:30 a.m., return by 6:00 p.m., two constables in continuous escort, a watch on the applicant’s activities, and service of the order on both the police and the jail for compliance in letter and spirit, all of it is aimed at ensuring that the concession does not become an avenue for escape or misuse. Courts granting such relief balance the individual’s interest in the opportunity against the State’s interest in secure custody, and the conditions are how that balance is struck. Nothing in the order touches the merits of the criminal case, in which the applicant, like any accused, is entitled to the presumption of innocence.
Case Title: Anuj Kumar Tiwari @ Gulu v. State of U.P. [Criminal Misc. Bail Application No. 7055 of 2026]
Bench: Justice Rajeev Bharti, High Court of Judicature at Allahabad, Lucknow Bench
Date of Order: September 14, 2026
Status: Short-term bail granted for September 16, 2026 to attend the Home Guard physical test, in police custody under escort, with return to jail by 6:00 p.m. Merits of the criminal case not touched; presumption of innocence applies.