The
Uttar Pradesh government seems to have turned a blind eye to the plight
of undertrials languishing in the state’s jails. Of the 81,000 inmates
in jails across the state, over 55,000 are undertrials. The jails are
extremely overcrowded as they are meant to house only 48,298 inmates,
including both convicts and undertrials.
Barring the district jails
of Lucknow, Kanpur, Jhansi, Gorakhpur and Meerut, all other jails house
more inmates than their capacity. This was revealed by the state’s jail
department in response to a query filed by RTI activist Urvashi Sharma.
“I
had sought details of how many undertrials are still imprisoned in
various jails even after completing half of the maximum sentence
specified for the crimes they are charged with,” says Sharma. “The
government initially refused to share the information, but after I filed
an appeal, I was told that details are being gathered from every
district jail.”
As per Section 436(A) of the Criminal Procedure Code,
an undertrial cannot be incarcerated for a period longer than 50
percent of the maximum sentence specified for the crimes of which they
are accused. The law allows them to be released by the court on
providing personal bonds. According to the incomplete information
provided by the jail department, there are 22 such prisoners in
Gorakhpur, 17 in Bijnor, 11 in Etah, five in Fatehpur, four in Jaunpur,
four in Lakhimpur and one in Shahjahanpur district jails.
“The state
government is violating the undertrials’ rights by not facilitating
their release,” says Sharma. “These are poor people who cannot afford to
hire lawyers or arrange surety for the bail bonds. The authorities in
every district jail should prepare a list of such inmates every month
and display it on the notice board. The lists should also be sent to the
district prosecution officers and the state government so that the
situation can be constantly monitored.”
Sharma adds that it is the
jail administration’s duty to inform such undertrials of the charges
against them and the maximum sentence, so that during their appearance
in court they can request the judge to order their release on personal
bonds without any surety. “The least the administration is expected to
do is to inform the undertrials of the status of their case and the
mechanism for their release,” she says. “Compliance with Section 436(A)
of the CrPC will also help reduce the overcrowding of jails.”
Jail
Minister Rajendra Chaudhary, however, denies that the government has any
role in the release of undertrials. “The jail administration is doing
all that the law demands of it,” claims Chaudhary.
The state
government hopes to solve the problem of overcrowding by constructing
more jails. “Twelve new jails are under construction and will be ready
by the end of 2014 to house another 25,000 inmates,” says Chaudhary.
Sharma
points out that in the past three years, the capacity of jails has been
increased to house only 3,859 more inmates. “Successive governments in
Uttar Pradesh have only made tall claims of jail reforms,” says Sharma.
“Overcrowding of jails is the single biggest cause of human rights
violations in the state.”
Of the total 75 districts in Uttar Pradesh,
only 65 have district jails. In most of the district jails, undertrials
form an overwhelming majority of the inmates. Of the total 594
prisoners in the district jail of Ghaziabad — the jail minister’s home
district — as many as 532 are undertrials. In Mau district jail, 402 of
the 494 inmates are undertrials, and in Balrampur district jail, 243 of
the 284 inmates are undertrials.
“Past experience shows us that most
of the undertrials will not be convicted in the end. Yet they are left
to languish in overcrowded prisons for years just because they are poor.
The worst suffering is endured by those who belong to other states like
Jammu & Kashmir and are lodged in prisons in Uttar Pradesh on
terror charges,” says SR Darapuri, former additional director of police
and now a human rights activist. |
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