UNDERTRIALS COMPRISE 75% OF INDIA’S PRISON POPULATION, MOST IN A DECADE.

Why in news?

• As per India Justice report, the number of under trials in prisons rose sharply in 2020 even as the number of convicts fell, resulting in under trials accounting for over three-fourths (75%)of all those in jail, the highest proportion in at least a decade.
• The highest increase in the proportion of undertrials was in Punjab, where it jumped from 66% in 2019 to 85% in 2020 followed by Haryana, where it jumped from 64% to 82% and MP where it went from 54% to almost 70%. Chhattisgarh saw an over 10% increase in the proportion of under trials.
• An undertrial is an unconvicted prisoner who is on trial in a court of law.
• Reasons for increase in number of undertrials- low population to judge ratio, delayed investigation, shortage of public prosecutors, most undertrials being poor, illiterate and belonging to marginalised communities etc.
• Measures taken-
  • Establishment of Fast track Courts.
  • E-prisons project to introduce efficiency in prison management.
  • Model Prison Manual 2016 provides information about legal services available to prison inmates.
  • Fast and Secured Transmission of Electronic Records(FASTER) Scheme by Supreme Court on bail orders.
  • Free legal services to undertrials by NALSA.