Bail Order Management System (BOMS)

Source: Allahabad High Court  

Why in News? 

Recently, Justice Arun Kumar Singh Deshwal directed the immediate electronic transmission of bail orders through the Bail Order Management System (BOMS) to ensure no person remains in jail after being granted bail, addressing delays despite the Supreme Court’s 2023 bail policy ruling. 

• The Allahabad High Court  held this in the matter of Sohrab Alias Sorab Ali v. State of U.P. (2025). 

What was the Background of Sohrab Alias Sorab Ali vs. State of U.P. (2025) ? 

• The applicant, Sohrab Alias Sorab Ali, filed a bail application seeking release in Case Crime No. 314 of 2025, registered under Sections 137(2) and 87 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, at Police Station Saini, District Kaushambi, during the pendency of trial. 
• The counsel for the applicant contended that although the First Information Report contained allegations of enticing away the daughter of the informant, the victim herself stated in her statement under Section 183 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita that she had left her house on her own volition. The applicant was therefore falsely implicated in the offence. 
• The applicant had been languishing in jail since September 25, 2025. The chargesheet had already been filed, eliminating any requirement for custodial interrogation. The applicant had a criminal history of one case but assured the Court that he would not misuse the liberty of bail and would cooperate in the trial proceedings. 
• During the proceedings, the Court took judicial notice of systemic delays in implementing bail orders. The Registrar (Compliance) informed the Court that due to the absence of jail details in bail applications, it became difficult to send copies of bail orders directly to the Jail Superintendent. Consequently, orders were being routed through the Inspector General (Prisons) and Chief Judicial Magistrates, causing significant delays. 
• The Court was further apprised by the Computer Programmer Coordinator (CPC) of the High Court that direct access to the e-prison portal through dedicated identification had not been provided to the Bail Section and Criminal Appeal Section by the National Informatics Centre (NIC), preventing direct transmission of bail orders to concerned jails. 
• The Court noted that it had encountered numerous cases where accused persons or convicts remained confined in prison even after being granted bail, primarily due to delays in verification of sureties. The Court observed that some officials of the revenue and police departments were allegedly involved in corrupt practices in the name of surety verification, which constituted a menace in the administration of justice. 
• Additionally, the Court noted that despite the initiation of the Bail Order Management System (BOMS) for sending release orders electronically during pre-lunch sessions, jail inmates were being released only in the evening after physical collection of release orders, contrary to the provisions of the Jail Manual.

What were the Court’s Observations?

• The Court emphasised that personal liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution cannot be curtailed due to administrative laxity, and once bail is granted, it becomes the right of the undertrial or convict to be informed and released immediately. 
• The Court observed that verification of sureties should be conducted in court premises through electronic processes to prevent corrupt practices allegedly being carried out by some revenue and police officials, ensuring that accused persons do not remain in prison even for a single day after being granted bail. 
• The Court noted that the practice of releasing inmates only in the evening after physically collecting release orders has no place in the Jail Manual, as Rule 91 of the UP Jail Manual, 2002 mandates that release orders must be complied with promptly and prisoners shall ordinarily be released the same day. 
• The Court directed that from December 1, 2025, all bail applications must mention jail details, and directed various authorities including the NIC, CPC, Director General (Prison), and Additional Chief Secretary (Home) to ensure direct electronic transmission of bail orders through BOMS and immediate release of prisoners upon receiving electronic release orders. 

What are the Court Directions Issued by the Apex Court in Policy Strategy for Grant of Bail ? 

• Advocates should mention the jail details in the bail application where the accused applicant or convict has been under incarceration so as to enable the Office/Bail Section of this Court to send the bail orders to the undertrial/convict-applicant immediately. 
• The Reporting Section of the HC will not clear any bail application filed in this Court or its Bench at Lucknow after 01.12.2025, unless the detail is mentioned in the bail application regarding the jail where the applicant is, at present, under incarceration. 
• Notice of this direction should also be given to Advocates through Bar Association, High Court, Allahabad and such notice shall also be pasted outside the Reporting Section, apart from notifying the same on the official website of the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad. 
• CPC, High Court, Allahabad will coordinate with the NIC to get direct access to e-prison portal through dedicated ID in concerned criminal sections so that bail orders from the HC can be sent to the applicant (undertrial or convict) promptly through the Jail Superintendent, without any outside interference, which is possible through e-mail. 
• NIC to cooperate with the CPC, High Court, Allahabad for the aforesaid issue. 
• The Additional Chief Secretary (Home), Secretariat, Government of U.P., Lucknow is directed to issue a direction to the officials concerned for ensuring the establishment of electronic verification of sureties in the district courts' compound itself in coordination with the District Judge concerned. 
• The Director General (Prison) is also directed to issue necessary direction to all prison authorities to release a jail inmate immediately after receiving the electronic release order through BOMS instead of collecting of the release orders from the Courts and then release the jail inmates in the evening.