The Depressing Upsurge Of Undertrials And Convicts In The Past Two Decades - A Statistical Analysis

The Depressing Upsurge Of Undertrials And Convicts In The Past Two Decades - A Statistical Analysis From 2000-2023 Of Indian Jails: Is There Any Road Ahead?

Dr. Samina Nahid Baig, KLS’s Raja Lakhamgouda Law College, Belagavi, Karnataka

ABSTRACT

Prison reforms are a topic of every conference, seminar, workshop, and academic discussion. In the past two decades i.e., from 2000-2023 the prison reforms were being worked upon. The authorities have been trying hard to overcome the problems and issues of the prisons all over India. The researcher starts the research and the data collection with the hypothesis that the condition of prisons has reformed. The pendency of cases in criminal matters has decreased and the overcrowding has reduced in the prisons. However, the researcher has found that the hypothesis which was taken is proved negative. The condition of overcrowding has not improved. The number of cases pending has increased two-fold, and the percentage of undertrials and convicts has increased in the past twenty years but on similar lines the jails' infrastructure has not improved. It was seen that Sub Jails and Special Jails decreased in the past years. Central Jails, District Jails, Open jails, and women's jails have increased in the past two decades. However, having seen the increase in the number of jails, the issue of overcrowding is not reduced. Maybe the answer lies in the Judiciary and Courts of Law itself. Are the Courts utilizing all options of sentencing to keep the offenders away from the jails? Are the probation, admonition, bail, and parole legal recourses being utilized? There are some questions which need to be answered as the researcher observes a huge pendency in cases in the past twenty years. Future research would be to know at what stages the offenders are getting stuck in the courts of law and to know more about the utilization of other alternatives to imprisonments by the courts of law. This research concludes that there is no improvement in the condition of overcrowding of prisoners in the Indian jails from the past two decades and there is an increase in the pendency of Criminal Cases in Indian courts. One development which the researcher appreciates is that the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA)has prepared the Model Prison’s Act, 2023. This Model Prison’s Act, will be a new development for us as it will replace the old outdated colonial era prison laws of India which were being followed till today.

Keywords: Prison Reforms, Overcrowding, Criminal Case Pendency, Statistics on Prisoners.