Joyfields News

Articles & News

March 5, 2009

India's youth on remand protest delay in getting bail

S. Vijay Kumar, The Hindu

Lawyers’ boycott results in jails getting overcrowded

CHENNAI: The ongoing boycott of courts by advocates has resulted in prisons and juvenile homes getting overcrowded.

While the number of inmates lodged in prisons across Tamil Nadu has increased by at least 10 per cent, police are sending accused persons to remand only when it is imperative.

A few juvenile offenders lodged in the Saidapet sub-jail here complained of inordinate delay in getting bail on Wednesday and threatened to commit suicide by jumping from trees. The incident occurred around noon.

They alleged congestion in the sub-jail due to overcrowding.

After prolonged negotiations, jail authorities agreed to shift some of them to the Puzhal central prison.

Infrastructure inadequate

Besides the delay in getting released on bail, they said infrastructure (in the sub-jail) was inadequate for the inmates.

Senior officials negotiated with the agitators and promised to shift them to a more spacious campus.

The juvenile offenders were also given the hope that courts would start functioning soon and they would get released on bail, prison sources said.

The process of releasing remand prisoners on bail has come to a standstill due to the boycott of courts by advocates.

The number of inmates in juvenile homes was also steadily on the rise, the sources said.

Shifted to Puzhal prison

“Since there is no release (on bail or on completion of sentence) in the last few days, there is overcrowding in some prisons. While the capacity of the Saidapet sub-jail is 80, we have now lodged 160 juvenile offenders there. About 30 of them were shifted to the Puzhal central prison on Wednesday evening,” Director-General of Prisons R. Natraj told The Hindu.

He said a majority of prisoners were either remand prisoners or undertrials.

Congestion in some jails

“As they are not being released on bail, there is congestion in some prisons…The number of inmates increased from 16,000 to 17,500 in the recent weeks,” he said.

When contacted a senior police official said the accused apprehended in different cases were being sent for remand only when it was imperative.

“We are aware that there is overcrowding in prisons. We are releasing the accused on bail at the police station itself when it comes to bailable offences,” the official added.