Undertrial Prisoners
Undertrial Prisoners
National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) compiles prison statistics reported to it by the States and Union Territories (UTs) and publishes the same in its annual publication “Prison Statistics India”. The latest published report is for the year 2022. State/UT-wise number of undertrial prisoners who were confined for more than 1 year in the jails of the country as on 31.12.2022 are given in Annexure.
Prisons’/‘persons detained therein’ is a “State List” subject under Entry 4 of List II of the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution of India. Administration and management of prisons and prisoners is the responsibility of respective State Governments. However, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has also been supplementing the efforts of the State Governments in this regard. The initiatives taken by the Ministry of Home Affairs to address the issue of undertrial prisoners are as follows:
(i) The Government of India inserted Section 436A in the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) which provides for 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.
(ii) The concept of plea bargaining has been introduced by inserting a “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.
(iii) E-prisons Software, which is a Prison Management Application integrated with Interoperable Criminal Justice System provides facility to 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, etc.
(iv) The Model Prison Manual 2016 circulated to all States/ Union Territories 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, interview with lawyers, application to Courts for legal aid at Government cost etc.
The 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. National Legal Services Authority holds awareness generation camps in jails to generate awareness about availability of free legal aid, plea bargaining, Lok Adalats and legal rights of inmates, including their right to bail, etc.
The National Legal Services Authority had prepared a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for Under-Trial Review Committees, which has been circulated by MHA to all States/Union Territories for making best use of the same and provide relief to prisoners.
States/UTs have been advised to make use of the above guidelines/guidance to address the issue of undertrial prisoners, through various advisories issued from time to time.
Annexure
State/UT-wise number of undertrial prisoners who were confined for more than 1 year in the jails of the country as on 31.12.2022
Sl.
State/UT
1 to 2 Years
2 to 3 Years
3 to 5 Years
Above 5 Years
1
Andhra Pradesh
280
58
53
1
2
Arunachal Pradesh
14
9
10
4
3
Assam
1209
128
137
45
4
Bihar
6393
2818
1481
402
5
Chhattisgarh
2196
1137
406
66
6
Goa
194
71
0
16
7
Gujarat
1885
1032
822
447
8
Haryana
3700
1543
786
53
9
Himachal Pradesh
444
261
243
48
10
Jharkhand
2181
1044
845
315
11
Karnataka
2194
863
677
225
12
Kerala
391
92
38
7
13
Madhya Pradesh
4274
2105
1675
211
14
Maharashtra
5759
2822
2261
1850
15
Manipur
48
14
26
22
16
Meghalaya
152
66
77
19
17
Mizoram
42
22
3
1
18
Nagaland
28
25
17
15
19
Odisha
2200
1166
1167
480
20
Punjab
4398
1967
716
119
21
Rajasthan
3005
1974
1621
453
22
Sikkim
56
31
18
2
23
Tamil Nadu
613
264
81
27
24
Telangana
272
44
24
9
25
Tripura
39
13
7
0
26
Uttar Pradesh
13891
9819
8760
4540
27
Uttarakhand
748
383
185
28
28
West Bengal
3464
2305
2187
1379
29
A & N Islands
13
1
17
1
30
Chandigarh
98
54
46
0
31
DNH & Daman Diu
45
19
17
2
32
Delhi
2426
1284
982
407
33
Jammu & Kashmir
823
543
480
253
34
Ladakh
3
1
4
1
35
Lakshadweep
0
0
0
0
36
Puducherry
24
2
0
0
Total
63502
33980
25869
11448
This was stated by the Minister of State for Home Affairs, Shri Ajay Kumar Mishra in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha.