The Supreme Court on Friday asked the Rajasthan government to pay Rs 11 lakh in compensation to a convict who remained in prison for 24 days despite an order issued by the High Court directing his release on parole, Bar and Bench reported.The state cannot continue depriving a person of liberty merely because officials are considering whether they should challenge a judicial order granting parole or not, a bench of Justices Sanjay Karol and AG Masih said.“The liberty of an individual is not a trivial matter,” the legal news portal quoted the judges as saying.It also noted that a judicial order directing the release of a person should be complied with unless it is stayed by a superior court, adding that their rights do not diminish merely because they are serving a sentence.While awarding the convict Rs 11 lakh as compensation for the violation of his personal liberty, the Supreme Court also said that his continued incarceration amounted to illegal detention and entitled him to compensation.The caseThe case pertained to a man named Daudayal who had been convicted by a trial court in 1988 and sentenced to four years of rigorous imprisonment in connection with a crime in 1967 in Rajasthan, Bar and Bench reported.He had been accused of unlawful assembly, house trespass and culpable homicide not amounting to murder. In 2021, the Rajasthan High Court upheld his conviction and sentence, after which he was taken into custody to serve the sentence.However, Daudayal applied for permanent parole in December 2023 while serving his sentence, Live Law reported. This request was rejected by the prison authorities in January 2024.He subsequently moved the High Court, which on November 5, 2024, directed his release on parole after furnishing a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh and two sureties of Rs 50,000 each.But Daudayal was not released despite fulfilling the conditions. He then approached a division bench of the High Court, which ordered his immediate release on December 6, 2024, the legal news portal reported.Soon after, Daudayal moved the Supreme Court seeking compensation for the time he was forced to remain in jail despite a parole order in his favour, Bar and Bench reported.He submitted that there was no legal basis for keeping him in prison for 24 days after his sureties were verified, contending that the continued detention violated his right to personal liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution and entitled him to compensation.On the other hand, the state government contended that the High Court order was contrary to the 1958 Rajasthan Prisoners Release on Parole Rules. The delay in releasing Daudayal occurred because the authorities were considering whether to challenge the order, it added.Edited by Leah Thomas.