Economic
Times: New Delhi: Wednesday, 02 September 2015.
The Central
Information Commission has directed the Home Ministry to ask the authorities of
the country's jails to prepare lists of undertrial prisoners, who have
completed half of the maximum period of imprisonment prescribed for their
alleged crime and supposed to be released, and inform them about their date of
release.
The CIC order
has come on the plea of an RTI applicant who had sought information from Tihar
Jail authorities whether Undertrial Review Committee (URC), which is set up to
decide on release of such undertrial inmates, have been constituted but did not
get complete information.
According to
Section 436-A of the CrPC, undertrial prisoners can be detained only half of
the maximum period of imprisonment prescribed for the alleged crime for which
they have been charged. This does not prevail upon offences for which the
punishment of death has been specified as one of the punishments.
The Supreme
Court had directed that jurisdictional Magistrate, Chief judicial Magistrates,
or Sessions Judge shall hold one sitting in a week in each jail/prison for two
months commencing from October 1, 2014 for the purposes of effective
implementation of Section 436-A of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
"In its
sitting in jail, the above judicial officers shall identify the undertrial
prisoners who have completed half period of the maximum period or maximum
period of imprisonment provided for the said offence under the law and after
complying with the procedure prescribed under Section 436-A pass an appropriate
order in jail itself for release of such under-trial prisoners who fulfil the
requirement of Section 436-A for their release immediately," it said.
The
Commission directs the Home Department to issue directives to all Jail
authorities to prepare the list of undertrial prisoners supposed to be released
from time to time at least for every quarter, informing the fact of their
release, Information Commissioner Sridhar Acharyulu said in his order.
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