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SC cautions against unjust incarceration of undertrials

While granting bail to an undertrial, Mohd Muslim @ Hussain, the apex court listed the risks of “prisonisation”.

SC cautions against unjust incarceration of undertrials

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The Supreme Court has cautioned against the consequences of “unjust imprisonment”, as inmates are at risk of “prisonisation” whereby the prisoner “loses his identity and is known by number”.

Referring to a Kerala High Court judgment where the description “prisonisation” was used, a bench of Justice S Ravindra Bhat and Justice Dipankar Datta in a recent judgment has said that long unjust incarceration of undertrial accused on account of delays in trial in the criminal cases specially in stringent laws, said, “There is a further danger of the prisoner turning to crime, as crime not only turns admirable, but the more professional the crime, more honour is paid to the criminal.”

The court said this while granting bail to one, Mohd Muslim @ Hussain, who has already spent seven years and four months in prison and the trial was progressing at a “snail’s pace” as 30 out of 64 witnesses have been examined and also noting that two accused in the case have already been enlarged on bail.

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The apex court quoted the Kerala High Court judgment which said that an undertrial prisoner “loses his identity. He is known by a number. He loses personal possessions. He has no personal relationships. Psychological problems result from loss of freedom, status, possessions, dignity any autonomy of personal life. The inmate culture of prison turns out to be dreadful. The prisoner becomes hostile by ordinary standards. Self-perception changes.”

Asking the trial courts, especially those dealing with special laws with stringent provisions like the NDPS Act to conclude the trials speedily, Justice Bhat speaking for the bench said, “Incarceration has further deleterious effects – where the accused belongs to the weakest economic strata: immediate loss of livelihood, and in several cases, scattering of families as well as loss of family bonds and alienation from society.”

It further said the courts to be “sensitive” to these aspects because in the event of an acquittal, the loss to the accused is “irreparable”, thus the trials especially in cases, where special laws enact stringent provisions, are taken up and concluded speedily.

The judgment also referred to the Union Home Ministry in its reply to parliament citing the National Crime Records Bureau report which said that as on December 31, 2021, over 5,54,034 prisoners were lodged in jails against their total capacity of 4,25,069 lakhs in the country. Of these 122,852 were convicts; the rest 4,27,165 were undertrials.

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