More than 50% behind bars in TN yet to be proven guilty
Poor Legal Aid, Lack Of Awareness Of Rights Leave Many Undertrials In Prison Indefinitely
Shanmughasundaram.J@timesgroup.com 14.11.2018
Forty three-year-old Senthil was granted bail two years ago by the judicial magistrate court in Arni, but the inmate at the Vellore Central Prison for Men has completed three years behind bars. Having lost touch with his family, Senthil could not furnish the mandatory surety for the murder case, in which he says he was falsely accused.
Absence of legal aid, lack of awareness and the slow judicial system is keeping a growing number of undertrials in jails across the country. Despite not being pronounced guilty, they languish in prisons for months, even years, waiting for a fair trial. In Tamil Nadu, 51% of the 10,201 prisoners are undertrials, show the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data published in 2016. The numbers are slightly lower than the pan-India data (67% of prisoners are undertrails).
According to the rule, undertrials to get bail need to produce two people as surety in court, but many of them who are migrant workers, orphans or disowned by families, find it difficult to meet this condition. In the absence of proper legal aid and lack of knowledge of such a clause, undertrials find themselves destined to live out their days in prison.
Prisoners with money find it easier. “If a person is ready to pay anything between ₹4,000 and ₹12,000, we can arrange surety for them. It is a lobby. Those who do not have families or cannot arrange for the money are left to suffer in prison, even though not proven guilty,” said an advocate In the Madurai Central Prison for Men, a senior prison official said of the 1,395 inmates, 869 were under trials. “Majority of them are incarcerated for more than a year, without legal aid and want of surety,” he said.
Though the district legal service authority (DLSA) recommends bail, files often end up in cold storage at different courts. “Repeated reminders are sent to the courts from DLSA in Tiruvannamalai requesting to grant bail to undertrials, but nothing has happened,” said a DLSA official in Tiruvannamalai.
The scenario is the same across the state. It is the collective failure of the stakeholders — policymakers, judiciary and law enforcing agencies. “Unwarranted imprisonment of a person for a petty offence will not do any good. This results criminalizing,” said M R Ahmed, former director of Academy of Prisons and Correctional Administration, Vellore.
The NCRB 2016 report shows that the undertrial numbers in prisons across the country increased by 15% between 2006 and 2015. This speaks volumes about the lack of legal aid for undertrials. The Supreme Court, in April 2015, passed an order directing the national legal service authority (NLSA) along with ministry of home affairs to form an undertrial review committee (UTRC) in every district to regularly review cases and extend legal aid. But little has been done till now, say experts.
“At least 40% of the undertrials do not deserve to be imprisoned. This has been the case since early 1970s,” said R K Saxena, former inspector general of prisons, Rajasthan. Imprisonment, he said, is essential only for those involved in heinous crimes. “As per NCRB data, there is only 5% recidivism among released prisoners. So, we need to avoid imprisoning all. Community-based trial should be done instead of custodial trial,” he said. Agreeing to that imprisonment can do more harm than good, especially in the case of undertrials who are later proved innocent, Ahmed said, “It is a place where individuals are kept away from a positive environment. Some people could show signs of depression and suicidal tendencies. Only those who are a threat to the society should be imprisoned.”
Taking a different path, the Andhra Pradesh government has drafted an alternative law to handle undertrials. Awaiting clearance the law looks at community service for those committing petty crimes. This is the practice in countries like the US, UK, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe and several African countries. If such a mechanism is put in place, it would do away with crowding of prisons and enable offenders of minor crimes to be involved in community services such as cleaning hospitals, taking up plantations that would be beneficial to society.
Poor Legal Aid, Lack Of Awareness Of Rights Leave Many Undertrials In Prison Indefinitely
Shanmughasundaram.J@timesgroup.com 14.11.2018
Forty three-year-old Senthil was granted bail two years ago by the judicial magistrate court in Arni, but the inmate at the Vellore Central Prison for Men has completed three years behind bars. Having lost touch with his family, Senthil could not furnish the mandatory surety for the murder case, in which he says he was falsely accused.
Absence of legal aid, lack of awareness and the slow judicial system is keeping a growing number of undertrials in jails across the country. Despite not being pronounced guilty, they languish in prisons for months, even years, waiting for a fair trial. In Tamil Nadu, 51% of the 10,201 prisoners are undertrials, show the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data published in 2016. The numbers are slightly lower than the pan-India data (67% of prisoners are undertrails).
According to the rule, undertrials to get bail need to produce two people as surety in court, but many of them who are migrant workers, orphans or disowned by families, find it difficult to meet this condition. In the absence of proper legal aid and lack of knowledge of such a clause, undertrials find themselves destined to live out their days in prison.
Prisoners with money find it easier. “If a person is ready to pay anything between ₹4,000 and ₹12,000, we can arrange surety for them. It is a lobby. Those who do not have families or cannot arrange for the money are left to suffer in prison, even though not proven guilty,” said an advocate In the Madurai Central Prison for Men, a senior prison official said of the 1,395 inmates, 869 were under trials. “Majority of them are incarcerated for more than a year, without legal aid and want of surety,” he said.
Though the district legal service authority (DLSA) recommends bail, files often end up in cold storage at different courts. “Repeated reminders are sent to the courts from DLSA in Tiruvannamalai requesting to grant bail to undertrials, but nothing has happened,” said a DLSA official in Tiruvannamalai.
The scenario is the same across the state. It is the collective failure of the stakeholders — policymakers, judiciary and law enforcing agencies. “Unwarranted imprisonment of a person for a petty offence will not do any good. This results criminalizing,” said M R Ahmed, former director of Academy of Prisons and Correctional Administration, Vellore.
The NCRB 2016 report shows that the undertrial numbers in prisons across the country increased by 15% between 2006 and 2015. This speaks volumes about the lack of legal aid for undertrials. The Supreme Court, in April 2015, passed an order directing the national legal service authority (NLSA) along with ministry of home affairs to form an undertrial review committee (UTRC) in every district to regularly review cases and extend legal aid. But little has been done till now, say experts.
“At least 40% of the undertrials do not deserve to be imprisoned. This has been the case since early 1970s,” said R K Saxena, former inspector general of prisons, Rajasthan. Imprisonment, he said, is essential only for those involved in heinous crimes. “As per NCRB data, there is only 5% recidivism among released prisoners. So, we need to avoid imprisoning all. Community-based trial should be done instead of custodial trial,” he said. Agreeing to that imprisonment can do more harm than good, especially in the case of undertrials who are later proved innocent, Ahmed said, “It is a place where individuals are kept away from a positive environment. Some people could show signs of depression and suicidal tendencies. Only those who are a threat to the society should be imprisoned.”
Taking a different path, the Andhra Pradesh government has drafted an alternative law to handle undertrials. Awaiting clearance the law looks at community service for those committing petty crimes. This is the practice in countries like the US, UK, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe and several African countries. If such a mechanism is put in place, it would do away with crowding of prisons and enable offenders of minor crimes to be involved in community services such as cleaning hospitals, taking up plantations that would be beneficial to society.
No comments:
Post a Comment