Sixty days separated the date bail should have freed a tea garden worker from the day he actually walked out of jail. The Calcutta High Court has now ordered Rs 5.36 lakh compensation for that stretch, holding that it had no basis in law.
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Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court has awarded Rs 5.36 lakh compensation, payable by the State of West Bengal, to a man who stayed in custody for 60 days after the date on which bail entitled him to release, ruling that the added detention was not sanctioned by law [Joy Krishna Nag v. State of West Bengal].
The order was passed in a writ petition by a Division Bench of Justice Debangsu Basak and Justice Aryak Dutt.
The finding on the 60 days
“We hold the period of detention of the writ petitioner between August 6, 2018 and October 5, 2018 was not sanctioned by law.”
How the days added up
The petitioner works in a tea garden. He had obtained bail in three criminal cases, yet the jail gates stayed shut. By his petition, release was due on August 6, 2018, and it came only on October 5, 2018.
The State pointed to a miscellaneous record case as the reason he was kept in. The Bench did not find that explanation satisfactory.
What the State has to pay
Within four weeks of the order, the State is to pay Rs 5.36 lakh. Rs 5 lakh of that is compensation, and Rs 36,000 is for loss of employment.
What it means
A grant of bail does not suspend Article 21. Where an administrative lapse keeps a person in prison, the State can be made to answer in money. The order sits alongside earlier rulings that treat compensation as a public-law remedy for unlawful detention.
Case Title: Joy Krishna Nag v. State of West Bengal
Bench: Justice Debangsu Basak and Justice Aryak Dutt, Calcutta High Court
Date of Order: October 5, 2026
Appearances: Advocates Abhimanyu Banerjee, Arnab Saha and Abdul Nooman for the petitioner; Additional Government Pleader Dibashis Basu with Advocates Sneha Dutta and Purnendu Das for the State