Waiting For Justice The State of Undertrials in Rajasthan Prisons

Introduction 1 What is to be addressed

18,873 RAJASTHAN’S PRISON POPULATION AS ON 31 MARCH 2013

5,452 Number of convictS 13,421 Number of Under trials This Essentially Means That…

For Every 1 Convict,

For Every 1 Convict, there are 2 Undertrials in Rajasthan Prisons

Mandate 2 Government intervention

According to the GO, the Samiti should meet EVERY MONTH to review cases of undertrials who… Have completed half or more than prescribed punishment (now S.436A, Cr.P.C.) Are accused of serious offences but have been undertrial for a ‘long period’ of time Have committed such petty offence that there is no need to keep them in judicial custody Purpose of the Samiti KEEPING LIBERTY AS A PARAMOUNT VALUE… Established in by the Rajasthan Government KEEPING LIBERTY AS A PARAMOUNT VALUE… Established in by the Rajasthan Government 1979

Members of the Samiti Chief Judicial Magistrate Representative of District Magistrate Representative of Superintendent of Police District Probation Officer Office In-Charge, District Prison

How are Samiti meetings conducted Letter is sent from Prison to CJM’s office to decide meeting date CJM decides the date and remaining 4 Members are notified about the meeting particulars Lists are prepared by prison staff according to 4 Proformas (see below) for cases to be reviewed by the Samiti Minutes of the Meeting sent to all the Members & Courts for action YESNO Is the next meeting date decided by the CJM? Review Meeting is held in the premises of the prison

Proformas Proforma A Death, imprisonment for life or imprisonment for a term of not less than 10 years, completed 90 days under custody, investigations not concluded [S.167(2)(a)(i)Cr.P.C.] Proforma C Completed more than the maximum term of sentence [S.428 Cr.P.C.] Proforma B Term of imprisonment less than 10 years, completed 60 days, investigation not concluded [S.167(2)(ii)Cr.P.C.] Proforma D Non-criminal lunatics for observation for more than 30 days [S. 16 & 23 of Indian Lunacy Act, 1912]

Research 3 Our findings

Collection of Data Study Sample: 29 Prisons | 7 Central Jails & 22 District Jails Appeals Initial Response RTI Applications 33 Responded 16 No Response 17 Responded 13 No Response 4 CJ Udaipur, DJ Gangapur city, DJ Jalore, DJ Jhunjhunu TIME PERIOD: JUNE 2009 – JUNE 2010

Number of Meetings Number of Meetings Held Sri Ganganagar Not a single district conducted all 13 meetings!

Number of Meetings Names of Districts 1Bharatpur, Bhilwara, Bundi, Dausa, Dungarpur, Jhalawar, Pali 2Kota, Bikaner, Ajmer, Hanumangarh, Sirohi 3Alwar, Dholpur, Baran, Barmer, Nagaur 4Jaipur, Banswara, Jaisalmer, Sikar 5Chittorgarh 6Churu 7Jodhpur, Pratapgarh 8 9Karauli 10Tonk, Rajsamand Sri Ganganagar Number of Meetings

No Specific Reason CJM could not decide on meeting date Meeting not held due to busy schedule Administrative Reasons CJM / Superintendent on leave Reasons for Meetings not held 76% did not specify any reason for meetings not held

Attendance of Members Chairperson & Member Secretary Police Department Probation Service DM’s Office

Irregularity of Meetings – Date of Meeting not decided in advance Proformas not followed by the prison authorities in preparing list of cases Unrealistic Case Review - On an average, 340 (Central Jail) to 177 (District Jails) cases reviewed in single meeting No set format or practice to record minutes and quality varied from prison to prison No Action-taken Report provided by the respective courts to inform the Samiti about the case-wise progress made Information about Samiti meetings not proactively disclosed – No provision to inform undertrial before or after the review Issues That Need Attention

Root Cause of Irregularities v/s Formed by the Government but headed by a judicial officer No Authority to monitor its working

Conclusion 4 RECOMMENDATIONS

Before the Samiti Meeting  Dates must be pre-set at least six months in advance – ensure proper preparation and maximum attendance  Jail authorities must prepare jail-wise lists with strict adherence to existing proformas and following Additional Proformas: a.Serious Offenders punishable with death or life imprisonment whose trial is continuing over two years b.Petty Offenders punishable with imprisonment up to 2 years c.Undertrials completed half or more than the maximum term of prescribed punishment [S.436A, Cr. P.C., 1973] d.Juveniles/whose age is contested e.Mentally ill [S.328–339, Cr. P.C., 1973] f.Persons detained under Chapter VII (Security For Keeping The Peace And Good Behaviour) & S.151, Cr. P.C., 1973 – remove the possibility of arbitrariness in inclusion of names

During the Samiti Meeting  Effectively review cases qualitatively, touching all important aspects of each case – ensure that injustice is not perpetuated  On request, opportunity for Undertrial to appear in person – facilitate disclosure of personal obstacles in obtaining bail  Inter-agency issues, like shortage of police escorts, benefit to petty offenders under supervision of Probation Officers, etc., must be discussed – ensure better coordination among various agencies

After the Samiti Meeting  The outcome of the review must be shared with the undertrial concerned – right to know the status/obstacles to one’s trial  Minutes of the Meeting: a.must be detailed and complete & all Samitis must follow a style guide b.must indicate detail of each case reviewed c.must specify action taken on each case reviewed in the previous meeting and indicate whether persons have been released d.must be sent in a timely fashion to all concerned magistrates/judges of the district e.must also be sent to the High Court Judge overseeing that district along with any comments from the CJM as necessary – ensure uniformity in the functioning of Samitis across the State

Other Recommendations  Statutory Recognition to Avadhik Samiksha Samiti  Oversight and supervision by High Court Judge overseeing that district  A standard computerised data management system to maintain records of the prisoners in all prisons  List of prisoners under review during a month, proceedings of the Samiti and its records should be proactively put in the public domain under S.4 of the RTI Act

We are your RESPONSIBILITY! We NEED you!!

Thank you! Prison Reforms Programme, CHRI