The recent Supreme Court ruling to release all under trials who have served half of the maximum term for crimes imputed to them, the Apex Court has taken a laudable step towards improving justice deliverance system. The Apex Court has set two months time frame from 1st October as the deadline to free the under trials. The Court has put the onus of release of all such prisoners on district judicial officers. Under trials are languishing in jails due to variety of reasons which include repeated adjournments in Courts, delays by police in investigating, prosecution not being ready, defence lawyers not being prepared and the review system in jails going defunct apart from poor prisoners inability to hire lawyers for bail. The situation is worst in states like UP, MP, Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Rajasthan. The order will also help in decongesting already crowded jails. The section 436 A of Criminal Procedure Code already empowers the authorities to release under trials who have served half the maximum sentence prescribed for the offence for which they have been charged. The benefit however is not applicable to under trials charged with heinous crimes that prescribe death penalty. Now the Supreme Court deadline gives powers and the state governments should not delay now implementing the orders. It has been estimated that out of 3.81 lakh prisoners across the country about 2.54 lakh or two thirds are under trials in various stages of their trials. Any further delay in release of these prisoners only hampers the effectiveness of criminal justice deliverance system in the country. This will also help in clearing the staggering backlog of criminal cases in various Courts of the country which is estimated to be about 3.5 crore. Now as per Supreme Court orders district judicial authorities will have to ensure that all undertrials who fall under this category are released before the deadline expires on 2nd December. With both the Central Government and the Supreme Court showing their intent and commitment to reduce prolonged pre-trial detention and uphold prisoners’ fundamental rights, there is hope that this serious issue will finally get the attention it deserves.
