A division bench of justices Naresh Patil and Prakash Naik has asked the joint secretary (home) and other officers concerned to remain present in court on September 23.
"Try and solve the problem of overcrowding in prisons for the next 50 years, don't look at it on a day-to-day basis; as you plan a city, airports and other infrastructure, carry out a study to solve this problem by building more prisons," the Bombay High Court told the state government on Tuesday.
A division bench of justices Naresh Patil and Prakash Naik has asked the joint secretary (home) and other officers concerned to remain present in court on September 23. By then, they have been asked to study and come out with probable solutions to the problem, providing proper escort services to undertrials and have good quality vehicles to produce the accused in court from jail.
The bench said, "Having video-conferencing facility is one solution, but it cannot be the only one, the problem of ensuring cases are disposed of in time and there are less acquittals stems from elsewhere. It is because evidence is not recorded on a regular basis and witness summons are not executed because of shortage of police staff among other things; if these issues are addressed, then things will fall in place. This is a serious matter in regards to dispensation of justice."
The bench has asked the state to even study the number of police personnel required on a daily basis to escort undertrials to prisons. As per previous statistics, on a daily basis in Mumbai and neighbouring areas, 450 police personnel are required to escort undertrials. However, only 25% of the need is met by the administration.
The court said, "Why does the state government not consider having a special unit to produce prisoners to courts? Already the policemen are busy in bandobast, protection and investigation duties, why burden them more? If there is a special unit, it will work effectively and help reduce pendency in cases."
The court made these suggestions during the hearing of a petition filed by Shaikh Abdul Naeem, an inmate of Arthur Road jail, who had written a letter to the high court, which was converted into a petition. The letter had stated that about 46 undertrials were not produced before trial courts and, hence, on more than one occasion, their trial had to be adjourned.
Advocate Niteen Pradhan, who has been appointed as amicus curiae in the case, argued that the government has to take the fact that accused are not being produced in court very seriously as it is mandatory for them to do so as per the Criminal Procedure Code.
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