Delhi HC Rejects PIL for Undertrial Prisoner Release Due to Overcrowding

The Delhi High Court has dismissed a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking guidelines for the release of undertrial prisoners due to overcrowding in jails.

The Bench

A bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet PS Arora stated that the issues raised by the petitioner, Gautam Kumar Laha, are already under consideration by the Supreme Court, and there is no reason to entertain the same.

“We are satisfied that since the issues raised by the Petitioner in the present petition are directly in issue in the W.P.(C) 406/2013 pending before the Supreme Court and are being supervised therein, we find no reason for entertaining the present petition. Accordingly, the present petition is dismissed,” said the bench.

The petitioner’s counsel argued that the PIL was filed for the benefit of undertrials languishing in overcrowded jails and prayed for the appointment of a committee to meet at least once every month to decide which inmate can be released for the court to pass an appropriate bail order.

Central Govt

Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma, representing the Centre, stated that the issues raised by the petitioner are directly pending before the Supreme Court, and therefore, he can approach the top court. He mentioned that the ‘Standard Operating Procedure for Under-Trial Review Committees,’ drafted by NALSA, was taken on record by the Supreme Court in 2018. In its order, the court noted that the apex court has also addressed the pressing issue of setting up more jails in each state and union territory due to overcrowding. It directed each state government to establish a designated committee focusing on setting up new jails, expanding existing facilities, and providing inmate facilities through technology.

“Thus, the issue of overcrowding urged in the present petition is also directly under consideration in the pending writ petition before the Supreme Court,” opined the court.

Delhi Govt

The Delhi government’s standing counsel Santosh Kumar Tripathi stated that the petitioner’s issue is already under consideration, and steps are being taken to address it. He argued that the ad hoc relief sought by the petitioner through an extra-judicial mechanism will burden the court with “frivolous” petitions.

The petitioner highlighted that there are three prison complexes in Delhi with a sanctioned inmate strength of 10,026, but 19,500 prisoners are lodged, as per 2021 data. He stressed that undertrial prisoners constitute 83.33 per cent of the total population of Delhi prisons, which exceeds the national average.

It was also claimed that the charge-sheeting rate in Delhi was only 31 per cent against the national average of 73 per cent of the total FIRs filed, indicating that the fundamental rights of undertrial prisoners are being adversely affected and violated.

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