The law Commission has recommended the Centre to introduce “electronic tagging” of persons accused of grave crimes as doing so would help the courts keep track of people having past incidence of similar crimes or who are evading arrest.
In an extensive report submitted to the Union law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Tuesday, the Commission said that electronic tagging serves two purposes. On one hand, it helps reduce “fugitive rates” by ensuring easy tracking of a criminal and on the other hand, it reduces government expenditure by reducing the number of accused detained at State expense in jails.
However, the panel headed by former Supreme Court judge, Justice (Retd) BS Chauhan warned that the system should only be used with the “highest degree of caution” after making changes in the appropriate laws.
The Commission made the recommendations as part of a study done to review bail provisions contained in the Indian Penal Code, Criminal Procedure Code, and other special laws. Comparing provisions on bail with foreign jurisdictions, the panel found out that a New Zealand law defines electronically monitored (EM) bail as a mechanism. “A person on EM bail must remain at a specified residence at all times unless special permission to leave is granted for an approved purpose (such as work). Compliance is monitored via an electronically monitored anklet that must be worn 24 hours a day,” it said.
EM bail is available in New Zealand for defendants and young people aged between 12 and 17 years who would otherwise continue to be held in custody in prison while they waited for a court hearing.
But at the same time, the Commission warned that electronic tagging had a “grave and significant impact on the constitutional rights” of individuals. “It must be implemented with the highest degree of caution. Such monitoring must be used only in grave and heinous crimes, where the accused person has a prior conviction in similar offences. This may be done by amending the appropriate legislations to restrict the application of electronic tagging...,” it said.
The law panel further noted that 78 per cent of the convicts are in prison for offences punishable with imprisonment of seven years and above whereas 57 per cent of the undertrials are in prison on an average for 3-6 months.
“Given the time needed to complete a thorough investigation of serious offences, it must be considered whether granting bail without restraint and conditions furthers the State’s interest in protecting its citizens, when the premise of citizen protection is at the core of any acceptable version of the social contract, the report said.