What is the issue?
- Supreme Court expressed its dismay over the pathetic condition of jails in the country and had asked the state governments to respond.
- Significantly, overcrowding is a major problem and it continues in spite of capacity enhancement of prisons and fast-tracking of cases.
What are the prison statistics in India?
- Supreme Court has asserted that prisoners cannot be kept in jail like animals and has been demanding states to reduce overcrowding of prisons.
- As of 2016, India’s 1,412 jails are crowded to 114% of their capacity, with a count of 4.33 lakh prisoners against a capacity of less than 3.81 lakh.
- Of the jails, there are - 741 sub jails, 379 district jails and 134 central jails, the rest being open jails, juvenile centres, women’s jails, and special jails.
- Notably, women’s jails are just 18 and comprise just over 1% of the total but despite this, it is the men prisons that are overcrowding.
- Women’s prisons had an overall occupancy of 71%, but some states like Chhattisgarh (186%), Uttarakhand (141%), Delhi (138%), Goa (120%) and Uttar Pradesh (117%) had overflowing women prisoners.
- Goa presented a unique case, where women prisoners were 20% over capacity, while men prisoners were less than 36% of capacity.
Who has the authority for governing prisons?
- Prisons are governed by the Prisons Act, 1894, and the Prison Manuals of respective state governments.
- Thus, states have the primary role, responsibility and authority to change the current prison laws, rules and regulations.
- However, the Centre has set up various committees from time to time to recommend modernisation of prisons.
- In 2016, a model prison manual was drafted by the Ministry of Home Affairs and was sent to all States and Union territories for implementation.
What are the steps taken to address overcrowding?
- The primary reason for overcrowding of prisons is pendency of court cases (above 3 crore) and 67% of all prisoners were under-trials (as per NCRB data).
- Notably, in its landmark judgement on inhumane conditions in prisons, SC issued an “eight-point guideline” in which under-trials featured prominently.
- SC Directive – The 8 point agent called for the establishment of an “Under-trial Review Committee” in every district and should meet quarterly.
- The committee should see to that under-trial prisoners are released at the earliest even if poverty is a hindrance for them to furnish a bail bond.
- The secretary of the District Legal Services Committee will also look into the issue of the release of under-trial prisoners in compoundable offences.
- Notably, compoundable offences are less serious in nature and can be settled through a compromise rather than requiring a trial.
- Government Efforts - In 2003, the union home ministry floated a scheme for modernisation of prisons and construction of additional barracks.
- The initial five-year outlay was Rs 1,800 crore for 27 states and 119 new jails and 1,572 barracks had been built with the funds allocated.
- Recently, the government acknowledged the large number of under-trials as a major reason for overcrowding, and listed measures taken to address them:
- Establishing fast-track courts
- Establishing open prisons in states and UTs
- Launching a “National Mission for Justice Delivery and Legal Reforms”
- Introducing “Plea bargaining” through Section 265 of CrPC
- Capping the maximum period for detaining an under-trial prisoner
- Strengthening “National Legal Services Authority” (NALSA)
Source: Indian Express
