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Mar 15, 2023

Over 75% of Undertrials in UP from SC, ST, OBC Groups, Centre Tells Parliament

The government also revealed that there is significant overcrowding in jails across the country. According to 2021 data, there were 5,54,034 inmates against the sanctioned capacity of 4,25,609 inmates.
Representative photo: Public domain.

New Delhi: Over 75% of all undertrial prisoners lodged in Uttar Pradesh in 2021 were from Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST) and Other Backward Classes (OBC) communities, according to the Union home ministry’s data presented in Lok Sabha.

Of the 90,606 undertrials in the state in 2021, 21,942 were from the SC community, 4,657 belonged to the ST community, and 41,678 were from the OBC community, minister of state for home, Ajay Kumar Mishra, told the parliament. The disclosure of information was in response to Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MP Shyam Singh Yadav’s questions.

The government also revealed that, as per the 2021 data, 1,410 convicts were lodged in jails across the country due to non-payment of fine amounts even after the completion of their sentence.

High proportion of undertrials in prisons flagged 

Yadav had sought to know whether the government is aware of the fact that around 76% of prisoners in jails are awaiting trial which, he had said, is more than the global average of 34%. He also sought to know the reasons for the delays in clearing cases and the steps being taken by the government to reduce the numbers and fast-track procedures to ensure that the pre-trial prisoners reach the trial stage.

He also asked “whether the Government is aware that there is an increase in the number of arrests post-lockdown period which has led to the overcrowding of jails and is responsible for spreading of communicable diseases” and sought the details of the same along with the steps taken by the Government in this regard.

Also read: Three Things India Can Do To Reduce Undertrial Prisoner Population

In response to this, the MoS replied that the subject of “prisons/persons detained therein” came under the State List and therefore the responsibility of taking appropriate steps for addressing the issue of undertrial prisoners in their respective jurisdictions vested with the respective states or Union territories.

He added that the MHA has also taken various initiatives from time to time to supplement the efforts of the states and UTs in this regard.

Spelling out these measures, the minister said MHA has issued several advisories on this subject. Besides, the Model Prison Manual 2016 circulated to all states/UTs has specific chapters on “Legal Aid” and “Undertrial Prisoners”, etc, which provide detailed guidelines on the facilities which may be provided to undertrial inmates, namely legal defence, interviews with lawyers, application to courts for legal aid at Government cost and the like.

The MoS also pointed out that the Union government has “inserted Section 436A in the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), which provides for the release of an under-trial prisoner on bail on undergoing detention for a period extending up to one-half of the maximum period of imprisonment specified for an offence under any law”.

Measures to prevent delays

The minister further added that “the concept of plea bargaining has also been introduced by inserting a new ‘Chapter XXIA’ on ‘Plea Bargaining’ (Sections 265A to 265L) in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, which enables pre-trial negotiation between the defendant and the prosecution.”

This apart, the minister said, the “E-prisons Software, which is a Prison Management Application integrated with Interoperable Criminal Justice System, provides facility to the State jail authorities to access the data of inmates in a quick and efficient manner and helps them in identifying the inmates whose cases are due for consideration by the Under Trial Review Committee”.

The minister also elaborated that State Legal Services Authorities have established Legal Service Clinics in jails, which provide free legal assistance to persons in need. “These Legal Service Clinics are managed by Empanelled Legal Services Advocates and trained Para-Legal Volunteers. These clinics have been established to ensure that no prisoner remains unrepresented and legal aid and advice is provided to them,” the reply said.

Representative image. Photo: Tum Hufner/Unsplash

Besides this, Mishra submitted that the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) also holds awareness camps in jails to generate awareness about the availability of free legal aid, plea bargaining, Lok Adalats and the legal rights of inmates, including their right to bail. He added that on the directions of the Supreme Court, the NALSA has also prepared a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for Under-Trial Review Committees, which has been circulated by MHA to all States and UTs.

Meanwhile, in response to another related query from Congress MP Abdul Khaleque who had asked about the data regarding the capacity of jails in the country, including the number of inmates lodged in various states and those staying in jails without conviction beyond the maximum term for the crime committed by them, the MoS MHA stated that as per the prison statistics prepared by the National Crime Records Bureau in its annual publication, Prison Statistics India, as on December 31, 2021, there were 1,410 convicts lodged in the jails of the country due to non-payment of the fine amount after completion of their sentence.

Overcrowding in most jails

The reply also revealed that the states with the highest number of inmates were Uttar Pradesh (1,17,789), Bihar (66,879), Madhya Pradesh (48,513), Maharashtra (36,853), Punjab (26,146) and West Bengal (25,769). In all, the data revealed that there was significant overcrowding in prisons as there were a total of 5,54,034 inmates in all the jails as against their sanctioned capacity of 4,25,609 inmates.

However, there were some states like Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Kerala, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Odisha, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Tripura, and UTs like Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh, Ladakh, Lakshadweep and Puducherry where the number of inmates in prisons was less than their sanctioned carrying capacity.

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