Ranchi, Dec. 1: Presence of false bailers or witnesses on court premises has always been an open secret, but never openly stated.

But for the first time, the advocates of the district court are frankly admitting that everyday a number of false bailers are presented before the court and furnish bail bonds to secure the release of the accused.

Sushil Kumar, an advocate, said: ?False bailers have their own rates and are their services are available for anything from Rs 50 to Rs 300. The rates of the bailers generally depends on the status of the person requiring their services,? Kumar added.

In a recent case, one Madhupriya, an accused in the ill-famous Sushma Badaik and P.S. Natrajan case, used dead bailers. Police investigations revealed that Madhupriya?s bailers had died several years ago.

Sanjeev Sharma, an advocate clerk, said the peshkars, who are supposed to check the identities of bailers in the court, know that false bailers are presented before the court to secure the release of an accused.

?The peshkars ask anything between Rs 70 to Rs 200 for allowing false bailers to sign the necessary papers required to secure bail for an accused. These people used to check the identity of the bailers earlier, but now, it has become a formality,? Sharma added.

The Telegraph caught up with a false bailer on the court premises.

On the condition of anonymity the bailer said: ?Most accused persons do not have enough time to find original bailers. Sometimes, it takes time for the original bailers to come from distant villages and the accused persons prefer to use us instead to get immediate release.?

The Jharkhand High Court is also aware of the practice of using false bailers to bail out criminals in the lower judiciary, said Ravikant Sinha, another advocate.

?The high court issues circulars periodically, which makes it obligatory for the magistrates and presiding officers of lower courts to check the credentials of all bailers,? Sinha stated.

Explaining the procedures, an advocate said after the court grants bail to an accused, a bail bond has to be filed with the names and addresses of the bailers.

?The bailers also have to declare the value of the property, which will be forfeited if the accused, for whom they stand as surety, absconds or violates the conditions of the bail order. A third person who identifies the two bailers is also required to sign the bond. The identifier also certifies that the bailers are genuine and are owners of the property mentioned in the bond,? the lawyer said.