More room in Tihar: High court to fast-track bail of undertrials

Abhinav Garg, TNN Apr 26, 2012

NEW DELHI: Nearly 400 undertrials will be released on bail from Tihar Jail. Delhi high court on Wednesday directed the jail authorities to fast-track bail pleas of undertrials lodged behind bars for over a year in offences that carry a maximum sentence of seven years. A bench of Acting Chief Justice A K Sikri and Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw asked the jail to pass on the details of such undertrials to the Delhi Legal Services Authority (DLSA), which will co-ordinate their release on bail.

HC took into account a list furnished by jail authorities saying they have over 8,000 undertrials lodged with them.

The court passed the order on a PIL filed by advocates Vijay Agarwal and Rakesh Makhija, urging the bench to ensure implementation of a 16-year-old Supreme Court ruling.

The apex court had ordered immediate release of those who were languishing in jail for two years in attempt to murder cases. It had further ordered release for those behind bars facing trial in offences that include kidnapping, theft, cheating, Arms Act, counterfeiting and rioting.

In its PIL, the petitioners urged HC to repeat the exercise and direct the authorities to frame a policy to grant bail to prisoners facing trial under such offences as the prison gets overcrowded.

HC then asked the jail superintendent to provide within a week the case details of the undertrials to DLSA, which would ask its lawyers to file applications before concerned courts for their release. HC also directed the trial courts to grant bail and release the accused on personal bonds in case any prisoner failed to furnish the bail bond before it. The PIL informed HC that "undertrials constitute a whopping 67% of the total prison population in India - 2,57,928".

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-04-26/delhi/31409413_1_undertrials-jail-authorities-pil