The Union ministry of home affairs informed the Parliament on Wednesday that more than 4 lakh cases of undertrials were lying pending across India, citing data published by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).
The query was raised by NCP’s Fauzia Khan on whether the Union government intended to take measures for the welfare of undertrials in the country.
Union minister of state for home affairs Ajay Kumar Mishra said: “The administration and management of prisoners is the responsibility of the state governments, who are competent to take appropriate steps for the welfare of undertrial prison inmates. However, the ministry of home affairs (MHA) has also been supplementing the efforts of state governments in this regard by way of issuing several advisories from time to time. The government of India has inserted Section 436A in the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), which provides for the release of an undertrial prisoner on bail upon undergoing detention for a period extending up to one half of the maximum period of imprisonment specified for an offence under any law.”
“State legal services authorities have established Legal Service Clinics in jails to provide free legal assistance to persons in need. These clinics are managed by empaneled legal services advocates and trained para-legal volunteers. Such clinics have been established in the jails to ensure that no prisoner remains unrepresented, and legal aid and advice is provided to them,” the minister said in his written reply.
According to the latest data, over 80% of all undertrials in Indian prisons were from marginalised communities in 2021.
Many prison statistics reports have been showing a disproportionate representation of Muslims, Sikhs, as well as Dalits (Scheduled Castes) and Adivasis (Scheduled Tribes), relative to their share in the population according to the 2011 census.
