In Episode 5 of the DAKSH Podcast we discussed undertrial detention in Indian prisons. 

One of the tragedies of the Indian prison system is the high proportion of undertrial prisoners (around two-thirds). Undertrial prisoners are kept in prison while awaiting trial or during their trial. The high proportion of such prisoners in our system has not budged in the last 3 decades since the issues started getting media and judicial attention. 

Prolonged undertrial detention violates their rights to liberty and fair trial, and adversely impacts their lives and livelihood. The overuse of undertrial detention effectively ends up punishing people before they are convicted, and makes a mockery of their right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty. 

This week we chatted with Dr Vijay Raghavan about undertrial detention in Indian prisons. Dr. Vijay Raghavan is a Professor at the Centre for Criminology and Justice, TISS and the Project Director of Prayas. Prayas has been working for the past 30 years towards rehabilitation and social reintegration of persons in prison, women rescued from commercial sexual exploitation, and children in conflict with the law.

Reading list:

1. Aparna Chandra and Keerthana Medarametla, Bail and Incarceration: The State of Undertrial Prisoners in India in Approaches to Justice in India 2017 https://www.dakshindia.org/Daksh_Justice_in_India/16_chapter_06.xhtml#_idTextAnchor068

2. Justice under trial: A study of pre-trial detention in India, Amnesty International India 2017.

3. Sudhir Krishnaswamy, Sindhu K Sivakumar, and Shishir Bail. "Legal and judicial reform in India: a call for systemic and empirical approaches." Journal of National Law University Delhi 2.1 2014, 1

4. Vrinda Bhandari, Inconsistent and Unclear: The Supreme Court of India on Bail 6(3) NUJS L. Rev. 549-558 (2013)

5. Vrinda Grover, ‘The Adivasi Undertrial, a Prisoner of War: A Study of Undertrial Detainees in South Chhattisgarh’ in Contesting Justice in South Asia (2018): 201.

CREDITS:

Host: Leah Verghese

This is a Maed in India production.

Production Head & Editor: Joshua Thomas

Sound Mixing: Kartik Kulkarni

Project Supervisor: Shaun Fanthome