Central Jail
Overcrowding of Under Trials
The under trial population comprises 90.66% of the total jail population. Therefore, a major challenge before the prison administration is to take necessary steps to reduce under trial population with the help of judiciary. Additionally, new jails are being constructed to reduce overcrowding. A number of steps have been taken to decongest under trial population, some of which are as under:-
- There is timely and complete production of under trials before the court so that a trial is not prolonged because of non attendance of a prisoner. The escort for the prisoners is being provided by Delhi Armed Police.
- Special courts are being regularly organized at Tihar Court Complex for disposal of minor offences where the under trial is ready to confess his crime before the Magistrate who is holding the court on every third Saturday. Care is taken so that no habitual prisoner may take advantage of special courts for which the list of prisoners is first scanned by fingerprint bureau of crime branch, Delhi Police.
- A list of under trials who have been granted bail by the courts but are unable to furnish surety is being compiled on weekly basis so that if the court thinks it proper the prisoner could be released on relax surely condition or on personal bond.
- Cases of seriously sick prisoners are being taken up with trial courts for their release on bail as per law.
- Directions have been issued to Jail Superintendents to ensure that no prisoner is unnecessarily detained by the staff because of inaccuracy of case particulars on release warrants. In this regard, detailed guidelines have been issued by Prison Headquarters.
The below mentioned table reflect the average period of detention of under trials as on 31/12/2022.
| S No. | Detention Period | Numbers | %Age | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Male | Female | Transgender | Total | Male | Female | Transgender | Total | ||
| 1 | Up to One Month | 2761 | 56 | 2 | 2819 | 17.12 | 9.01 | 15.38 | 16.82 |
| 2 | 1-3 Months | 3204 | 125 | 2 | 3331 | 19.86 | 20.12 | 15.38 | 19.87 |
| 3 | 3-6 Months | 2805 | 65 | 0 | 2870 | 17.39 | 10.46 | 0.00 | 17.12 |
| 4 | 6-12 Months | 2510 | 123 | 7 | 2640 | 15.56 | 19.80 | 53.84 | 15.75 |
| 5 | 12-24 Months | 2307 | 118 | 1 | 2426 | 14.30 | 19.00 | 7.69 | 14.47 |
| 6 | 24-36 Months | 1243 | 41 | 0 | 1284 | 7.70 | 6.60 | 0.00 | 7.66 |
| 7 | 36-48 Months | 573 | 36 | 1 | 610 | 3.55 | 5.79 | 7.69 | 3.63 |
| 8 | 48-60 Months | 345 | 27 | 0 | 372 | 2.13 | 4.34 | 0.00 | 2.21 |
| 9 | Above 60 Months | 377 | 30 | 0 | 407 | 2.33 | 4.83 | 0.00 | 2.42 |
| 10 | Total | 16125 | 621 | 13 | 16759 | 100.00 | 100.00 | 100.00 | 100.00 |
- Around 36.69% of the under trial population is released within three months of their arrival.
- There were 407 under trials who were in prison for more than 5 years. Such prisoners are facing trial in heinous offences like murder, rape, terrorist activities.
- Legal aid advocates are visiting jails and imparting legal aid to needy prisoners so that they may not languish in jails.