MAY 6 : In a significant move, the Bihar government intends to release under-trial prisoners languishing for years in the jails of the state. The move is seen as a part of the police and criminal justice reforms, which the state government was attempting to bring in. If this happens, this would be the first time any government took such a step in the country.
In principle, the state cabinet has already approved the proposal to release the under-trials, and has asked the home department to prepare a list.Preparing for the move, the department has constituted a legal committee under the chairmanship of advocate general PK Shahi, and entrusted it with the task of scrutinising the list of prisoners and identify the under-trials for petty crimes, who have completed 65 years of age or suffering from critical ailments.
Speaking to FE on phone from Patna, inspector general (IG) (jail) Sandip Poundrik said, “Though there exist provisions to release convicted prisoners on the grounds of old-age or critical ailment, it is for the first time we are exploring the possibility of releasing the under-trials.”
Confirming the move the advocate general said the committee was going through the list of all 44,000 under-trials and convicted prisoners lodged in various jails. He said, so far the state has identified aged-prisoners in the district jails of Gopalganj, Bhojpur, Siwan, Motihari, Muzaffarpur and Darbhanga. “The scrutiny of the list is in the process and we are hopeful of finalising it by early next month,” Shahi said.
Though the state government has not yet fixed a deadline to accomplish the task, it has initiated the move also by seeking legal opinion from the experts to approach courts to clear the release formalities of such prisoners. The state government has so far identified 702 convicted prisoners, who were in their late sixties or suffering from critical ailments. They are expected to be released on August 15 this year.
In principle, the state cabinet has already approved the proposal to release the under-trials, and has asked the home department to prepare a list.Preparing for the move, the department has constituted a legal committee under the chairmanship of advocate general PK Shahi, and entrusted it with the task of scrutinising the list of prisoners and identify the under-trials for petty crimes, who have completed 65 years of age or suffering from critical ailments.
Speaking to FE on phone from Patna, inspector general (IG) (jail) Sandip Poundrik said, “Though there exist provisions to release convicted prisoners on the grounds of old-age or critical ailment, it is for the first time we are exploring the possibility of releasing the under-trials.”
Confirming the move the advocate general said the committee was going through the list of all 44,000 under-trials and convicted prisoners lodged in various jails. He said, so far the state has identified aged-prisoners in the district jails of Gopalganj, Bhojpur, Siwan, Motihari, Muzaffarpur and Darbhanga. “The scrutiny of the list is in the process and we are hopeful of finalising it by early next month,” Shahi said.
Though the state government has not yet fixed a deadline to accomplish the task, it has initiated the move also by seeking legal opinion from the experts to approach courts to clear the release formalities of such prisoners. The state government has so far identified 702 convicted prisoners, who were in their late sixties or suffering from critical ailments. They are expected to be released on August 15 this year.
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