Ignorance of law, lack of case info extend convicts’ jail stay

Ignorance of law, lack of case info extend convicts’ jail stay

Shanmughasundaram.j@timesgroup.com

Chennai:18.04.2021

After spending 12 years behind the bars without much legal aid, 49 year-old life convict Ram (name changed) took up the case on his own and approached the Supreme Court. Now, he was out on bail and trying to win back his freedom.

As on April 15, there were 15,796 prisoners in Tamil Nadu. Of these, 4,311 and 8,683 were convicted and remanded prisoners. “Persons like me are rare. Many prisoners are illiterate and lack knowledge about their legal rights and the available facilities in the existing judicial and prison system,” said Ram, a native of Chennai, who was incarcerated from 2005 to 2018 Puzhal-I central prison in connection with a murder case.

Several hundreds of prisoners are still in the dark about their case status as they lack awareness about their legal rights or assistance from the system. “Unaware that they have to undergo their sentence concurrently, many prisoners remain in prison for more number of years,” said a probation officer.

They can do away with this by approaching court to get direction as per provision of 428 of CrPC (period of detention undergone by the accused to be set off against the sentence). But the ignorance on the part of the prisoners and lack of support from prison welfare officers leave several inmates in jails beyond stipulated imprisonment periods.

The department has trained educated convicts as paralegal volunteers to help their fellow convicts, who themselves were illiterates. However, it is not of much use. “It is difficult to get the case kattu (case brief) from advocates, making it difficult for many prisoners to use the free legal service extended by the legal service authorities,” said an ex-convict, who preferred anonymity. He was one among the 1,600-odd prisoners who had benefited from Tamil Nadu government’s premature release scheme a few years ago.

The daughter of a life convict said her father was imprisoned long beyond the stipulated period after being convicted in a murder case. Though he was eligible to be released under premature release scheme, charges under Arms Act denied him the freedom. He continues to languish in Vellore Central Prison for Men.

Activists seek facilities such as Kiosks where case details and the current status of the cases could be accessed. All prisons mus have the facility to help the inmates to have up to date details of their cases.