The Supreme Court order directing release of undertrial prisoners who have spent half of the maximum sentence prescribed for their offences would ensure protection of civil rights and principle of natural justice, says senior advocate Bhim Singh. Singh, on whose petition the "historic" order was delivered by the apex court, said, "It came at a time when there is a universal demand for amendments in the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and Indian Penal Code (IPC)."
He said poor prisoners were languishing in jails due to the prevalence of archaic and colonial law which have no relevance today on individual freedom and liberty. "We have been following old British norms and legal standards which have no relevance today after 200 years of its formulations. The latest order delivered on September 5 is not only historic but this has also responded to the necessity of the present time to ensure protection of civil liberty and application of principle of natural justice," Singh, who is also the chief of Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party, said in a statement.
The senior advocate, who is also espousing the cause of several prisoners of foreign nationalities, including Pakistanis, said, "This order has brought great innovation and unique revolution as it will be applicable to all prisoners irrespective of their nationality." Further, he said the order on the petition, which he has been pursuing since 2005, would also be applicable to those convicted persons, who have spent half their quantum of punishment in the jail during pendency of their appeals in the higher courts.
Singh said the order was unique as it has made a departure from traditional criminal jurisprudence by making "duty bound" the chief judicial officer/sessions judge of the country that they have to visit the prisons under their jurisdiction and decide the status of all undertrials on the spot on the basis of the record of each inmates.
Singh said the order has brought much needed relief to poor people who are languishing in jails as they are not able to pay sureties and bail bond to get out of prison. The apex court on Friday had expressed concern that more than 60 per cent prisoners are undertrials and asked judicial officers to visit each jail under their jurisdiction from October 1 to find out and release such prisoners immediately. It also set a period of two months time to finish the work.
The court had asked the judicial officers to visit once in a week for two months each jail under their jurisdiction for the purpose of effective implementation of section 436A for releasing prisoners. Section 436A talks about maximum period for which an undertrial prisoner can be detained and it stipulates that such prisoners can be released by the court on a personal bond with or without sureties if he or she has spent half of the maximum period of imprisonment in jail.
It is estimated that out of around 3.81 lakh prisoners across the country, about 2.54 lakh are undertrials. In many cases, the accused have spent more time in jail than the actual sentence which might be awarded to him in case of conviction. The court had made it clear that there is no need for lawyers to be present while judicial officers take decision for release of prisoners. It said the judicial officers, after finishing the task, shall file a report to registrar general of the high court concerned. It said thereafter the registrar general of high courts shall file report with the secretary general of the Supreme Court.
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