Govt to provide financial aid to prisoners who can’t afford bail

Source: The post is based on the article “Govt to provide financial aid to prisoners who can’t afford bail” published in The Hindu on 8th April 2023

What is the News?

The Ministry of Home Affairs(MHA) has decided to launch a special scheme to provide financial support to poor people who continue to be in jail because they are unable to afford the penalty or the bail amount.

About Undertrial Prisoners in India

According to the latest available data compiled by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) for 2020, about 76% of all prison inmates in the country were undertrials, of which about 68% were either illiterate or school dropouts.

Among the undertrials, about 20% were Muslims, while about 73% were Dalits, tribals or OBCs.

Languishing in jails for longer periods as an undertrial is basically a function of the inmate’s economic strength. Many inmates can’t even afford the bail amount, let alone hiring a lawyer.

What are the steps taken to address the issue of undertrials?

Insertion of Section 436A in the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC): It provides that in a case where punishment for the offense cannot be death and a person has undergone detention for a period extending up to one-half of the maximum period of imprisonment specified for the offence, he shall be released on bail.

Insertion of a new chapter XXIA ‘Plea Bargaining’ in the CrPC.

Free legal aid is being provided to poor prisoners through the Legal Services Authority at various levels.

What is the Scheme for Support of Poor Prisoners?

Under this scheme, the Government of India will provide financial support to States in order to extend relief to those poor prisoners who are unable to avail bail or get released from prison due to non-payment of fines, on account of financial constraints.

This will enable poor prisoners, the majority of whom belong to socially disadvantaged or marginalized groups with lower education and income level, to get out of prison.

To further strengthen the process, technology-driven solutions will be put in place to ensure that benefits reach the poor prisoners such as 1) reinforcing the E-prisons platform, 2) strengthening of District Legal Services Authority, and 3) sensitization and capacity building of stakeholders to ensure that quality legal aid is made available to needy poor prisoners, etc.