HC asks police to trace more than 280 life convicts

The whereabouts of more than 280 life convicts, who are out on bail, are unknown to the authorities in Delhi.
This emerges from a direction given by the Delhi High Court to the city police, asking it to continue with its effort to establish contact with 283 life convicts who are out on bail.
"Vide orders dated April 15, 2014 passed by this court, the Director General (Prisons) was directed to furnish fresh details of all such life convicts who were granted bail and their appeals are listed before the High Court for final hearing.
"Considering the fact that the list of 729 life convicts as earlier submitted by the Jail Superintendents still found many names missing of life convicts who were on bail, further directions were given pursuant to which the Director General (Prisons) came up with fresh comprehensive list containing names of 915 life convicts who were granted bail by the High Court from time to time

".....Since the fresh list has already been filed by the Director General (Prisons) which contains 915 life convicts who are on bail and thus, there will be an addition of 186 life convicts. Out of 729 life convicts, the State has yet to establish contact with 97 life convicts and with 186 life convicts as per the fresh list, the State would be required to establish contact with 283 such life convicts.
"Let the State continue with this effort to establish contact with remaining 283 life convicts who are on bail," a bench of justices Kailash Gambhir and Sunita Gupta said.

Delhi Police had earlier informed the court that out of the initial list of 729 life convicts, who have been granted bail from time to time while their appeal is pending, it has been able to trace 558.

Of the remaining, five were in prison, the appeals of eight have been disposed of and 61 expired during the pendency of their appeal, the police had told the court, adding efforts were on to trace the remaining 97 life convicts.
Subsequent to this development, the Director General of Prisons recently submitted a fresh list of 915 life convicts who are out on bail.

This list contained the names of the earlier 729 along with 186 fresh names.
The court will now hear the matter on July 17.
It has directed its Registry "to make an endorsement with regard to 563 appeals of life convicts with whom the police could establish contact so that the concerned division benches can be made aware about their advance service by the police".