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Published: September 7, 2014 00:11 IST | Updated: September 7, 2014 00:11 IST

Update data on undertrials, Chief Ministers told

Special Correspondent

Use software to review their cases: Ravi Shankar Prasad

Within days of the Modi government taking the init iative to free undertrial prisoners who have served at least half the

sentence they would have been awarded i f convicted, Union Law and Justice Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad haswritten to all Chief Ministers to install a software application in all the prisons of their States to collect data of suchprisoners.

Pointing out that under-trial prisoners constitute two-thirds of the total prison population of the country, Mr. Prasadsaid incarceration of persons awaiting trial and who are yet to be proven guilty, is a serious violation of basic humanrights and reflects poorly on our criminal justice system.

The CrPC was amended in 2006 to insert section 436A which provides for the right of the under trial prisoner toapply for bail once he/she has served half of the maximum term applicable, if convicted. Further, section 436 of theCr.PC enjoins courts to consider as indigent any person who is unable to furnish bail within seven days from the date

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of arrest, and to release him/her on personal bond without asking for any surety. Effective enforcement of theseprovisions is lacking due to absence of up to date information about such under-trials who can be released, the Lawand Justice Minister said.

Stating that urgent steps are required by State Governments to ensure effective implementation of these provisions,Mr. Prasad urged the Chief Ministers to use software applications to generate data of such under-trial prisoners,review their cases periodically and revise and update Prison Manuals.

He said that National Informatics Centre (N1C) has developed the e-Prisons Suite with a focus on under-trials. Oncedata on under-trials in prisons is fed into this application, it automatically computes the stipulated date of release

under Section 436A of the Cr.PC. Apart from the prison authorities, availability of such data in public domain wouldhelp other agencies like the District Legal Services Authorities and relevant Civil Society Organisations in theirendeavours to secure release of under-trial prisoners, he said.

Mr. Prasad said that e-Prisons Suite has been deployed in Tihar Jail in New Delhi and in selected Jails in 17 Stateswhile some States have developed other similar software applications. It is estimated that of 3.81 lakh prisoners acrossthe country, about two-third or 2.54 lakh, are undertrials. The initiative is seen as a major judicial reform that willlead to decongestion of or prisons in the country.

I request you to consider installing such a software application in all the prisons in your State so that we canameliorate the situation of incarcerated undertrials in a systematic and time-hound manner, Mr. Prasad said in hisletter. He has also written to the Chief Justices of High Courts requesting them to advise district judiciary to reviewall cases where undertrials are eligible for bail under Section 436A of the Cr.PC and to take suo motu action to release

them.

Keywords: undertrials, Chief Minister, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Chief Justices, High Courts, Supreme Court

Printable version | Oct 31, 2014 12:03:12 AM | http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/update-data-on-undertrials-union-law-minister-ravi-shankar-prasad-tells-chief-ministers/article6386628.ece

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