ADDRESSING THE CRISIS OF PRISON OVERCROWDING
AUTHOR – JAYA MAHATY MANDALAPARTHY, ALLIANCE UNIVERSITY, BENGALURU
BEST CITATION – JAYA MAHATY MANDALAPARTHY, ADDRESSING THE CRISIS OF PRISON OVERCROWDING, ILE LAW REPORTER (ILE LRE), 1 (1) of 2023, Pg. 1-10, APIS – 3920 – 0043 | ISBN – 978-81-964391-3-2.
Abstract
Indian jails face a plethora of issues ranging from overcrowding to a lack of basic amenities. Despite prisoners and under-trials being humans, there are too less advocates to fight for their fair treatment in the justice system. It was only recently that people have started paying attention to it after it was addressed by our President Draupadi Murmu and the Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud and. President Murmu shared with the citizens of India glimpses of what she observed on her visits to prisons across India. She noted that most inmates were awaiting trial and were imprisoned for long periods for minor crimes and, due to their family’s weak financial situation, couldn’t be bailed out. [1] These people, called ‘under-trials’, are forced to spend extended stretches of time in custody before appearing in front of a judge. Experts have narrowed down the causes to the slow justice system, insufficient legal and police behaviour. This research paper aims to shed light on how big of an issue prison overcrowding actually is, given the meagre attention it gets. It aims to inform and educate the readers regarding what causes it and how a multitude of people are affected by it. We delve into the underlying factors that contribute to prison overcrowding and what reforms the Indian government has come up with to curb this issue. The paper concludes with policy recommendations that can be adopted to better the current situation in prisons and advocates for amendments and addition of laws in statutes that protect the rights of inmates.
Keywords: prison overcrowding, under-trials, inmates, slow, rights.
[1] https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/towards-reducing-indias-prison-footprint/article66329746.ece