New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday issued notices to the Centre and the city government on a PIL
on over-crowding in high-security Tihar Jail and seeking
formulation of a policy to grant bail to prisoners facing
trial for petty offences.
"Issue notice to respondents and fix it for hearing
August 24," a bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justice
Sanjiv Khanna said.
The public interest litigation, filed by lawyer Vijay
Aggarwal, said "undertrials constitute a whooping 67 percent
of the total prison population in India. There are 2,57.928
under trial prisoners in India."
The petition seeks formulation of a policy under which
the release of prisoners, serving 7 years of imprisonment for
the offence of cheating and forgery, be considered.
The persons, who are in jail during the trial for such
offences, be also released on bail if they are in jail for
more than a year, it said.
"The present system shows injustice, discrimination
and violations of constitutional right which these undertrials
suffer on account of the administration of the laws and rules,
comprising the universal justice system in the country in a
completely arbitrary and constitutionally impermissible
manner," Aggarwal said.
The court, which also sought a response from the
Director General Tihar Jail on the plea filed by the lawyer
who also represents some of the accused in the 2G case.
PTI
