The Hindu : NHRC concern over plight of under-trials

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Friday, Jul 18, 2003

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NHRC concern over plight of under-trials

By J. Venkatesan

NEW DELHI July 17. The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has expressed concern over the plight of under-trial prisoners and suggested regular holding of special courts in jails and their monitoring by the Chief Justice/senior judges of High Courts.

Pointing out that 75 per cent of the prisoners are under-trials, the Commission has suggested monthly review of such cases, releases on personal bonds and visits of district and sessions judge to the jails.

The suggestions are contained in a letter from the Chairperson of the Commission, Justice A.S. Anand to the Chief Justices of High Courts.

The Commission has found that a number of under-trials are languishing in jails even after being granted bail, simply because they are unable to raise sureties.

Mr. Justice Anand has suggested that these cases be reviewed after 6 to 8 weeks to consider their suitability for release on personal bonds, especially in cases when they are first offenders and the punishment is also less than 2/3 years.``Slow progress of cases in courts and the operation of the system of bail to the disadvantage of the poor and illiterate prisoners is responsible for the pathetic plight of these forgotten souls who continue to suffer all the hardships of incarceration although their guilt is yet to be established,'' Mr. Justice Anand has observed. An analysis of the prison population as on June 30 last year showed that 3,04,813 persons were in jails throughout the country, against the prison capacity of 2,32,412, indicating an overcrowding of 31.2 per cent and 75 per cent of them were under-trials.In some States and Union Territories such as Delhi, Jharkhand, Chhatisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana and Bihar, the prison population is two to three times the total capacity of the jails.

The Commission has observed that in most States jails are overcrowded, the standard of sanitation and hygiene is poor, medical facilities are inadequate and the overall atmosphere is depressingly sad.

``Overcrowding which throws every system and facility out of gear is found to be the root-cause of the deplorable living conditions in our jails.

It constitutes a glaring violation of the basic human right to life, which means life with dignity,'' the Commission has said.

Mr. Justice Anand has requested the Chief Justices of all High Courts to keep the Commission informed of the action taken in this regard to enable it to circulate it to other States with a view to bringing about ``uniformity'' and ``intensity''.

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