Poor languishing in jails as under-trial prisoners: Activist

Kothagudem: There were about 3.30 lakh under-trial prisoners in jails across the country, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs has informed a Right to Information (RTI) activist in the district.

The Ministry, in a recent reply to the activist and an NGO, Youth for Anti-Corruption member, Nallapu Manideep’s query, said that of the 15,98,218 under-trial prisoners in the country as of Dec 2019, 61,359 were acquitted by the lower courts and 21,895 were acquitted by the upper courts on appeal, since India’s independence.

The activist sought details from the Ministry of Home Affairs and National Crime Records Bureau of the number of under-trial prisoners in jails in the country, the time they spent in jails and how many of them had been acquitted.

Manideep told Telangana Today on Monday that the poor were languishing in jails for more than five years in false cases. The poor under-trial prisoners were forced to spend lifetime in jails because of their poor financial background and lack of awareness of legal procedures to get bail.

He revealed that nearly 1.22 persons were in jails for more than three months, 68,447 persons for three to six months, as many as 22,451 persons have spent in jail for two to three years while 14,049 persons remained under trial prisoners for three to five years

“This is a gross violation of human rights. The courts should take suo motu cognisance of the issue and help the poor prisoners on trial. Facilities and exemptions offered for under-trial prisoners as per Prisoners’ law were not fully enforced in prisons” Manideep noted.

There were instances where the courts have held that the Code of Criminal Procedure was being misused by the police. The Supreme Court itself felt human rights violations were more likely to take place in police stations and other investigation agencies and wanted CCTV cameras installed.

Manideep stated that it has become common to book false cases against RTI activists who were questioning misdeeds of governments and its officials. The Indian Penal Code says that victims could take action against those who make false allegations.

The Youth for Anti-Corruption legal team has been taking steps to file a public interest litigation on the matters related to the public and holding discussions with executive officers and advisory team, he added.

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