SC orders trial court judges to facilitate release of prisoners who have served half of the max term
Over one-lakh undertrial prisoners who have served more than half of the sentence that they can get for their crimes if proved in the court will soon be released from jail. The Supreme Court on Friday directed trial court judges to visit jails and facilitate release of these prisoners on furnishing of a personal bond.
The initiative to begin from October 1 will be completed in two months. At the end of this period, each District Court will present a report to respective High Courts giving number of the undertrial prisoners released till November 30. This data would be transmitted to the Supreme Court that will take up the case on December 8.
The court’s decision is set to provide relief to over one lakh undertrial prisoners, who for failure to secure surety for bail or lack of awareness of their legal rights, languish in jail even for petty offences. The NDA Government has already taken a decision to identify such undertrial prisoners. The court order is set to give a major push to this reform.
The Bench of Chief Justice RM lodha, Justices Kurian Joseph and Rohington F Nariman placed reliance on a submission made by Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi that in the country close to 60 per cent prisoners in jails are undertrials. The submission came on a PIl filed by advocate Bhim Singh highlighting the plight of foreign prisoners languishing in Indian jails beyond their sentence period.
According to the Prison Statistics India 2011 Report, there were 2,41,200 under-trial prisoners and 1,28,592 convicts in jails, which presents a ratio of 188 undertrials for 100 convicts. There has been a significant rise in the undertrial population in jails. This can be mapped by the 1975 Mulla Committee Report, which pointed out that for every 100 convicted prisoners there were 136 undertrials. This figure shot to 149 as on December 31, 1980, and to 160 as on June 30, 1981.
The court felt an urgent need to address the problem as Rohatgi pointed out that Section 436A of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) mandates that every undertrial prisoner who has served half of the maximum sentence for is released on furnishing a personal bond. The concern of the court was two-fold. It was pained to note the overcrowding of jails by undertrials, who are forced to remain in jail despite Section 436A providing them a way out. Besides, the court felt that the present position even contradicted the dictum that a man is innocent till proved guilty. The bench asked the AG if an alternative could be worked out as part of a legislative policy change so that arrest is not mandatory for bringing a person to justice.
The bench observed, “We apply the arrest procedure either erroneously or onerously. Think of it…we appear to be obsessed with arresting people though there are effective ways other than arrest to bring them to justice.” On a previous date, the court had asked AG to prepare a roadmap for fast-tracking criminal justice system instead of dealing it piece-meal by fast-tracking cases of MPs, MlAs and others.
The bench asked AG to consider and suggest within three months on a possible alternative to arrest that would form part of a comprehensive roadmap to fast-track criminal justice system. The court even stressed on the need to improve judicial infrastructure, another aspect considered crucial to dispose cases at the earliest. While the apex court had instructed High Courts to increase judge strength at lower judiciary levels by 25 per cent, the bench told the AG to ensure setting up of judicial infrastructure to accommodate the additional lot of judges.