The Bombay High Court on Friday issued a directive for all legal aid panel lawyers to proactively assist undertrial prisoners who have experienced prolonged pre-trial incarceration. Justice Milind Jadhav, presiding over a bail application from a murder accused who had been jailed for nearly eight years without a court appearance for over three years, stressed the necessity of legal aid advocates in safeguarding the rights of these prisoners.
During the proceedings, Justice Jadhav highlighted the duty of legal aid lawyers to inform the courts of such cases, particularly where undertrials have been detained for extended periods. He emphasized that these advocates play a crucial role in addressing the backlog and ensuring the fundamental right to a speedy trial, as upheld by numerous Supreme Court rulings.
The urgency of this issue is underscored by the latest statistics from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report, “Prison Statistics India 2022.” The report shows an alarming occupancy rate of 131% in Indian prisons, with 573,220 inmates housed in facilities designed to hold only 436,266 individuals. Notably, undertrials, who are yet to be convicted and whose cases are still pending, constitute about 75.8% of the total prison population. Furthermore, approximately 8.6% of these undertrials have been in custody for over three years.
This directive follows the Supreme Court’s call for comprehensive bail law reforms in the landmark case of Satender Kumar Antil vs CBI. The apex court laid down specific guidelines for the timely disposal of bail applications and reinforced the principle of ‘bail, not jail’ to prevent unnecessary and prolonged incarceration.
