25,000 under-trials including 830 in TN languish in jails despite bail

CHENNAI: Obtaining bail has not helped nearly 25,000 under-trial prisoners (UTPs), who continue to languish in prisons across the country due to their inability to furnish bail bonds, revealed a report titled 'Prisons in India' prepared by the Supreme Court's Centre for Research and Planning.

According to the report which cited data from High Courts across India, 24,879 UTPs who were granted bail remain behind bars as of December 31, 2023. This includes 830 in Tamil Nadu. That is, such prisoners account for more than 75 per cent of the inmates in 1,382 prisons in the country.

The report said Uttar Pradesh (6,158) has the highest such population, while Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh (26), Himachal Pradesh (50), and Jharkhand (57) have the fewest.

Socio-economic conditions were identified as key factors hindering their timely release and contributing to prolonged detention. The inability to fulfil bail bond requirements often stems from financial and territorial constraints as well as a lack of legal awareness—factors that contribute to extended detention, the report said.

Another factor is that many among them prisoners are accused in multiple cases, and are often unwilling to furnish bail bonds until they can secure bail in all cases.

To substantiate this, the report incorporated data on annual family income of prisoners in 23 out of 36 prison departments, which showed that the annual income of 38.3 per cent of prisoners is less than Rs 30,000, while 39 per cent have an annual income between Rs 30,000 and Rs 1 lakh.

It may be noted that the Law Commission's 268th report had pointed out that "powerful, rich, and influential individuals obtain bail promptly and with ease, whereas the poor and common people languish in jail."

The report also highlighted several key observations and directions from the Supreme Court, which dissuaded lower courts from imposing unreasonable and strict conditions, such as high bail amounts and local sureties. It pointed to the case of Guddan (alias Roop Narayan) vs the State of Rajasthan, in which the High Court granted bail on condition that the accused deposit a fine of Rs 1 lakh, provide an equal amount as surety, and submit two additional bail bonds of Rs 50,000 each.

The Supreme Court disapproved of these conditions as excessively restrictive, and noted, "While bail was granted to the appellant, the excessive conditions imposed have, in fact, acted as a refusal to the grant of bail."

To address the plight of under-trials, the relaxation and modification of existing legal provisions and bail bond conditions have been proposed. The Supreme Court had directed that if a UTP is not released within seven days of the bail order, the prison superintendent must inform the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA). The authority would in turn assign a paralegal volunteer or jail-visiting advocate to assist the prisoner in securing their release. The authorities are also required to submit a report on the socio-economic conditions of such UTPs and request the court to relax bond conditions.

Now, the Union Home Ministry has introduced a scheme to provide financial assistance to prisoners who are not released from jail within seven days of a bail order due to non-payment of fines. The Supreme Court has also suggested alternative approaches, such as allowing UTPs to offer cash surety instead of insisting on local sureties.