Undertrials, India placed among worst 10 countries, Gandhi

Former Chief Information Commissioner Shailesh Gandhi today said with over 65 per cent of prisoners in the country being undertrails, India is placed amongst the "worst" ten nations in the world in terms of number of accused languishing in jails.
"Data shows over 65 per cent of our prisoners are undertrials. This places us amongst the worst ten countries in the world (in terms of number of undertrials in jails)," he said at a press conference organised by Amnesty International India to announce the launch of its campaign "Take Injustice Personally".
"Our jails are overcrowded and one of the reasons for this is not releasing people who are eligible to be free as per the provision of section 436A. We are concerned about animals being in cages but forget our fellow citizens who languish in prisons unfairly, without any reasons," he added.

Launching the campaign "Take Injustice Personally" here, Amnesty International India today urged that the Karnataka government must urgently identify and release eligible undertrial prisoners and show its commitment to respecting prisoners' rights.
The campaign aims to identify and facilitate the release of undertrial prisoners eligible for release under law, including those who have already been in prison for over half the term they would have faced if convicted.
Amnesty also said it will undertake research into systematic factors that contribute to excessive pretrial detention in India, and provide specific recommendations for long-term policy reform.
Amnesty International, quoting the National Crime Records Bureau said that, as of December 2012 (the latest data available), 2,54,857 undertrials (66.2 per cent of the total prisoner population) were being detained in prisons in India.

Around 46 per cent of these undertrials were aged between 18 and 30; 30 per cent of them were illiterate and over 2,000 under trials had been in detention for more than five years.