Undertrial Full Movie 720p Download
Gordon Neal
This article examines the state of undertrial prisoners in India, using crime and prison statistics released by the National Crime Records Bureau. We find that despite various interventions and reforms introduced by the legislature and the judiciary, the extent and duration of undertrial incarceration amongst prisoners is not only on the rise, but also that it has a disproportionate impact on the most socio-economically vulnerable sections of society. We argue that judicial and legislative reform has failed because of lack of sustained and systematic institutionalisation of reform measures. We conclude that a systemic re-imagination of bail law is needed for a true ameliorative impact on the state of undertrial prisoners in India.
Mumbai: Over the past decade, Indian prisons have increasingly had more undertrial prisoners, with their share increasing from 66% of prisoners in 2012 to 76% in 2022, as revealed in the latest Prison Statistics India report released by the National Crime Records Bureau. While this figure rose each year, the greatest rise was seen in the pandemic year of 2020, when undertrial prisoner share rose from 69% to 76%.
A primary contributing factor to this trend is the indiscriminate arrests carried out by the police, often without proper consideration, as IndiaSpend reported in August 2022. Individuals belonging to marginalised communities are disproportionately impacted from these unwarranted detentions. Other factors such as limited access to legal assistance and difficulties in meeting bail conditions contribute to the heightened likelihood of underprivileged individuals spending time in prison without being convicted.
To throw light on this issue better, IndiaSpend is launching PrisonWatch, a comprehensive portal that aggregates prison statistics data concerning undertrial inmates in India, spanning the last 25 years since 1997, when the first compilation of detailed prison statistics was released by the NCRB. The primary objective is to analyse patterns within the growing undertrial inmate population and identify trends across states over the years. The compiled data include demographic information, age, duration of confinement, and the nature of the crimes involved.
Six of every 10 of India's prisoners languishing in jails across the country are undertrials: their cases have yet to be tried, and they are spending more time in jail than they would have, if convicted. The slow march to justice for undertrials must be seen in the context of a criminal justice system in need of an overhaul. This paper examines the plight of the country's undertrials and recommends ways to move forward.
India's undertrials constitute a whopping two-thirds of the country's total inmates. In pure statistical terms, out of some 3.81 lakh prisoners across the country, 2.78 lakh are undertrials. Notwithstanding a slew of legislations and court judgments that have been passed over the years, the number of undertrial prisoners has increased by 9.3 percent from 254,857 in 2012 to 278,503 in 2013.4
What is worrisome is that a majority of these undertrials have spent more time in jail than the actual sentence that would have been awarded them in case of conviction. The most recent figures show that a mammoth 37.9 percent of undertrials have been detained for up to three months by the end of 2013, and a record 3,047 undertrials were found to be languishing in various prisons for more than five years (See Table 1).5
The highest number of undertrials are in the northern states. (See Table 2) The data are revealing: The number of prison inmates is directly proportional to the population of the state, i.e., states which are densely populated have higher crime rates, and higher undertrials. Uttar Pradesh leads in the number of undertrials, followed by Madhya Pradesh and Bihar. UP has more than twice the number of undertrials than Bihar, highlighting the alarming nature of law and order in the country's most populous state (the number accounts for 19.5 percent of total convicts in the country).6
Apart from population, there is also a close correlation between the undertrial population and their education (See Table 3). A huge 30 percent of undertrials are illiterate; nearly 43 percent never completed their school education, reaching only primary level. Thus, over two-thirds of inmates would presumably have very little knowledge about their legal rights, if at all.7
When it comes to identity of undertrials (here caste, religion and gender), the underprivileged communities make up a large number of unconvicted prisoners (See Table 4). For instance, as against population ratios of 16.2 and 8.6 percent, the share of undertrials among the Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) is 20.30 percent and 11.30 percent, respectively. With regard to religion, Muslims have a disproportionate presence among the undertrials. The data reveal that against a population share of 14 percent, more than 21 percent (57,936) of undertrials belong to the Muslim community.9 Overall, while Muslims, SC and ST populations constitute nearly 39 percent of the total population, they account for a high 53 percent of total undertrial prisoners in various jails.10
The story of unconvicted women prisoners demands discussion as well. Although they represent a small proportion (4.6 percent) of total unconvicted prisoners, their situation is alarming.11 For instance, many women undertrials are left with no recourse but to live with their children inside jail: There are currently about 1,252 women undertrials with 1,518 children in various jails in the country.12 What makes their situation worse is the inadequacy of jail space in most Indian states. There are only 12 women jails out of 35 States and UTs. As a result, major jails like Tihar in Delhi are overcrowded with women prisoners who suffer unspeakable miseries. For women living with their children inside jail, life is exponentially worse.13
On occasion, issues concerning prisoners in general and the plight of undertrials in particular, have received serious attention from the state. Much of the positive contribution has come through judicial intervention. Through judgments and strictures to authorities managing the criminal justice system, the country's higher judiciary has sought to improve the welfare of India's prisoners, especially the undertrials.14
The serious judicial intervention on the issues of undertrials began as early as 1979 when the plight of undertrial prisoners was written about by the venerable English daily, The Indian Express. The paper carried a series of reports on the horrendous conditions of thousands of prisoners spending years in prison without being even brought to trial. As a direct result, the issue received some serious, albeit judicial, consideration. The report led to the filing of a writ petition through a lawyer activist in the Supreme Court.15 The Court subsequently admitted the petition and it was only in 1979, in the judgment of Hussainara Khatoon16 that the Supreme Court of India delivered an important verdict: speedy trial was a fundamental, constitutional right for criminal defendants.
Apart from the Union government and the highest court, a number of state governments and high courts have also occasionally taken various measures to address the issues of undertrials. For instance, the Patna High Court22 took suo motu an action and initiated a PIL for the efficient and effective implementation of Section 436A Code of Criminal procedure, 1973. The Court directed the Jail Superintendent, the Inspector General (Prisons) and the Legal Services Authorities to take interest for the implementation of this section. Similarly, the Bombay High Court in October 2008 took up the issue of undertrial prisoners in bailable cases who could not furnish bail. The Court decided to undertake the task of monitoring the situation for a year and directed all Sessions Judges of the State to call for periodical records from the Magistrates and Jail Superintendents.
Among all Indian states, it is Tamil Nadu that has made some impressive strides in addressing the situation of undertrials. Until the charge-sheet is filed, arrested prisoners in Tamil Nadu are categorised as 'remand prisoners' and are free to be released on their own bond. Moreover, jail comprises four categories of inmates: Remand prisoners who are arrested in the immediate past and are awaiting release on bail; undertrials, who need to undergo trial; convicts; and finally, people held under preventive detention laws. Moreover, a prison adalat concept exists where the district legal service authority aims at bringing relief to petty offenders and their family members belonging to the economically weaker sections.
Despite Executive and Judicial branches of the government launching various programmes and pronouncing some vows to correct the situation, little has changed on the ground and lakhs of undertrials still languish in various jails. If anything, their numbers have only gone up in recent years, notwithstanding frequent directives from the Ministry of Home Affairs to jail authorities and the Supreme Court's judgment in 2014.23
The slow march to justice for thousands of undertrial prisoners has to be seen in the larger context of a criminal justice system afflicted by serious structural and procedural bottlenecks. Countless undertrials are paying the price for India's centralised justice system which has a very low ratio of judges, a dysfunctional prison system, and alarmingly low police-population ratio. Little priority is given to investigation and prosecution and there is lack of strong commitment to use emergent information and communication tools in carrying out justice delivery functions.
The foremost challenge to the criminal justice system impacting the fate of most undertrials is India's low population-judge ratio.24 There is a vacancy of more than 300 positions against the sanctioned strength of 906 judges in 21 High Courts across the country. The current scenario is even worse in the lower courts, with more than 3,300 posts remaining vacant against a sanctioned strength of 17,715 judges.25 All this has clear bearing on the languishing of undertrials for want of bails. With backlog of litigations stretching over three crore, pre-trial detention is being used a punitive measure, resulting in denial of bail.26
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