Jail vs Bail – Overcrowding of Prisons | 28th November 2022 | UPSC Daily Editorial Analysis

Please Share with maximum friends to support the Initiative.





What's the article about?

  • It talks about two issues – the issue of overcrowding of prisons and the higher judiciary’s intervention in granting bail.

Relevance:

  • GS2: Structure, Organization and Functioning of the Executive and the Judiciary; Prelims

What's the crux of the article?

  • On the occasion of the National Law Day celebrations, President Draupadi Murmu made a call to the government and the judiciary to address the issue of overcrowding of prisons.
  • In another case, Union Law Minister Rijiju argued against the higher judiciary intervening in bail decisions, arguing that only trial courts should make bail decisions.
  • Thus in this article, the writer analyses these two issues.

Analysis:

  • The main reason for overcrowding of the prisons is prolonged detention of under-trial prisoners.
  • Three out of four prisoners being undertrials.
  • As of December 31, 2021, around 80 percent of prisoners were confined for periods up to a year.
    The report states that an overwhelming 95 percent of undertrials released in 2021 were granted bail by courts while a mere 1.6 per cent were released on acquittal by court.
  • It shows that the sluggish pace at which trial courts work to reach a final decision cannot keep up with the increasing number of undertrials.
  • Obviously, if prison overcrowding is to be brought down then the under-trial population has to be reduced drastically. Of course, this cannot happen without the courts and the police working together.
  • To tackle the issue of the overcrowding of the prisons, the government is going to build new prisons. Criticising this move the President argued that, “If we are moving towards progress as a society, then why do we need new jails? We should be closing down the existing one”.

Prison Statistics India 2021 – Key findings

  • It is published by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), Ministry of Home Affairs
  • During the year 2021, a total of 18,06,823 inmates were admitted in various jails of the country and the admission of inmates has increased by 10.8% over 2020 (16,31,110 inmates).
  • A total of (5,54,034) prisoners were confined as on 31st December, 2021 in various jails across the country.
  • The number of Convicts, Undertrial inmates and Detenues were reported as 1,22,852, 4,27,165 and 3,470 respectively accounting for 22.2%, 77.1% and 0.6% respectively at the end of 2021. Other prisoners accounted for 0.1% (547 prisoners) of total prisoners.

What is meant by bail?

  • Bail is referred to as the temporary release of the accused in a criminal case in which the court has a trial pending and is yet to announce the judgement.
  • The word Bail comes from the French word bailer, which means 'to give or deliver'.
  • It is held by the person charged concerning the escape or the continuation of criminal activity.

Higher judiciary’s intervention in granting bail

  • There was a sharp exchange on this issue between Union law minister Kiren Rijiju and the Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud.
  • Rijiju had made a case against the higher judiciary’s intervention in granting bail and said only trial courts ought to decide granting of bails.
  • In response, the CJI said that higher courts are flooded with bail cases because of a “sense of fear” in the lower judiciary.

Way Forward:

  • The Dickensian idea of building more prisons is not the solution, as President Murmu rightly said. The judiciary, lawmakers, and government must act quickly to address this crisis.



Please Share with maximum friends to support the Initiative.

Download the Samajho App

Join 5 lakh+ students in downloading PDF Notes for 2000+ Topics relevant for UPSC Civil Services Exam. &nbsp Samajho Android App: https://bit.ly/3H9hva1 Samajho iOS App: https://apple.co/3H8ZJE2 &nbsp Samajho IAS Youtube Channel (300K+ Subscribers): https://www.youtube.com/@SamajhoIAS