Lok Sabha Question No. 544 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-02-06
Subject: Undertrial Prisoners
Ministry: HOME AFFAIRS
Asked by: Chandeshwar Prasad

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 544

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 6 TH  FEBRUARY 2024/ MAGHA 17, 1945 (SAKA)

UNDERTRIAL PRISONERS

†544. SHRI CHANDESHWAR PRASAD:

Will the Minister of HOME AFFAIRS be pleased to state :

(a) the details and the total number of undertrial prisoners lodged in jails for more than one year, State-wise including Bihar;

(b)  whether  the  Government  proposes  to  reduce  the  long  detention  of undertrials; and

(c) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS

(SHRI AJAY KUMAR MISHRA)

(a):  National  Crime  Records  Bureau  (NCRB)  compiles  prison  statistics reported to it by the States and Union Territories (UTs) and publishes the same  in  its annual  publication 'Prison Statistics India'. The  latest published report is for the year 2022. State/UT-wise number of undertrial prisoners  who  were  confined  for  more  than  1  year  in  the  jails  of  the country as on 31.12.2022 are given in Annexure.

(b) & (c): Prisons'/'persons detained therein' is a 'State List' subject under Entry  4  of  List  II  of  the  Seventh  Schedule  to  the  Constitution  of  India. Administration and management of prisons and prisoners is the responsibility  of  respective  State Governments.  However, the Ministry of

Home Affairs (MHA) has also been supplementing the efforts of the State Governments in this regard. The initiatives taken by the Ministry of Home Affairs to address the issue of undertrial prisoners are as follows:

- (i) The  Government  of  India  inserted  Section  436A  in  the  Code  of Criminal  Procedure  (CrPC)  which  provides  for  release  of  an  under-trial prisoner on bail on undergoing detention for a period extending up to one half of the maximum period of imprisonment specified for an offence under any law.
- (ii) The  concept of  plea  bargaining  has  been  introduced  by  inserting  a 'Chapter XXIA' on 'Plea Bargaining' (Sections 265A to 265L) in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, which enables pre-trial negotiation between the defendant and the prosecution.
- (iii) E-prisons  Software,  which  is  a  Prison  Management  Application integrated with Interoperable Criminal Justice System provides facility to State Jail authorities to access the data of inmates in a quick and efficient manner and helps them in identifying the inmates whose cases are due for consideration by the Under Trial Review Committee, etc.
- (iv) The  Model  Prison  Manual  2016  circulated  to  all  States/  Union Territories has specific chapters on 'Legal Aid' and 'Undertrial Prisoners', etc,  which  provide  detailed  guidelines  on  the  facilities  which  may  be provided  to  undertrial  inmates,  namely  legal  defence,  interview  with lawyers, application to Courts for legal aid at Government cost etc.

The State Legal Services Authorities have established Legal Service Clinics  in  jails,  which  provide  free  legal  assistance  to  persons  in  need. These  Legal  Service  Clinics  are  managed  by  Empanelled  Legal  Services Advocates  and  trained  Para-Legal  Volunteers.  These  clinics  have  been established to ensure that no prisoner remains unrepresented and legal aid and  advice  is  provided  to  them.  National  Legal  Services  Authority  holds awareness  generation camps  in jails to generate  awareness  about availability of free legal aid, plea bargaining, Lok Adalats and legal rights of inmates, including their right to bail, etc.

The  National  Legal  Services  Authority  had  prepared  a  Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for Under-Trial Review Committees, which has been circulated by MHA to all States/Union Territories for making best use of the same and provide relief to prisoners.

States/UTs have been advised to make use of the above guidelines/guidance  to  address  the  issue  of  undertrial  prisoners,  through various advisories issued from time to time.

*****

## L.S.US.Q.NO. 544 FOR 06.02.2024

## State/UT-wise number of undertrial prisoners who were confined for more than 1 year in the jails of the country as on 31.12.2022

| Sl.   | State/UT          |   to 2 Years |   2 to 3 Years |   3 to 5 Years |   Above 5 Years |
|-------|-------------------|--------------|----------------|----------------|-----------------|
| 1     | Andhra Pradesh    |          280 |             58 |             53 |               1 |
| 2     | Arunachal Pradesh |           14 |              9 |             10 |               4 |
| 3     | Assam             |         1209 |            128 |            137 |              45 |
| 4     | Bihar             |         6393 |           2818 |           1481 |             402 |
| 5     | Chhattisgarh      |         2196 |           1137 |            406 |              66 |
| 6     | Goa               |          194 |             71 |              0 |              16 |
| 7     | Gujarat           |         1885 |           1032 |            822 |             447 |
| 8     | Haryana           |         3700 |           1543 |            786 |              53 |
| 9     | Himachal Pradesh  |          444 |            261 |            243 |              48 |
| 10    | Jharkhand         |         2181 |           1044 |            845 |             315 |
| 11    | Karnataka         |         2194 |            863 |            677 |             225 |
| 12    | Kerala            |          391 |             92 |             38 |               7 |
| 13    | Madhya Pradesh    |         4274 |           2105 |           1675 |             211 |
| 14    | Maharashtra       |         5759 |           2822 |           2261 |            1850 |
| 15    | Manipur           |           48 |             14 |             26 |              22 |
| 16    | Meghalaya         |          152 |             66 |             77 |              19 |
| 17    | Mizoram           |           42 |             22 |              3 |               1 |
| 18    | Nagaland          |           28 |             25 |             17 |              15 |
| 19    | Odisha            |         2200 |           1166 |           1167 |             480 |
| 20    | Punjab            |         4398 |           1967 |            716 |             119 |
| 21    | Rajasthan         |         3005 |           1974 |           1621 |             453 |
| 22    | Sikkim            |           56 |             31 |             18 |               2 |
| 23    | Tamil Nadu        |          613 |            264 |             81 |              27 |
| 24    | Telangana         |          272 |             44 |             24 |               9 |
| 25    | Tripura           |           39 |             13 |              7 |               0 |
| 26    | Uttar Pradesh     |        13891 |           9819 |           8760 |            4540 |
| 27    | Uttarakhand       |          748 |            383 |            185 |              28 |
| 28    | West Bengal       |         3464 |           2305 |           2187 |            1379 |
| 29    | A & N Islands     |           13 |              1 |             17 |               1 |
| 30    | Chandigarh        |           98 |             54 |             46 |               0 |
| 31    | DNH & Daman Diu   |           45 |             19 |             17 |               2 |
| 32    | Delhi             |         2426 |           1284 |            982 |             407 |
| 33    | Jammu & Kashmir   |          823 |            543 |            480 |             253 |
| 34    | Ladakh            |            3 |              1 |              4 |               1 |
| 35    | Lakshadweep       |            0 |              0 |              0 |               0 |
| 36    | Puducherry        |           24 |              2 |              0 |               0 |
|       | Total             |        63502 |          33980 |          25869 |           11448 |