Responding to a question in Parliament, the Home Ministry said on Tuesday, 2 August, that as of 2020, there was a total of 3,71,848 undertrial prisoners in Indian prisons.
Of these, Uttar Pradesh has nearly 25 percent (80,557) of the total number of undertrials languishing in prisons.
In fact, UP has consistently had the highest number of undertrials in the country from 2016-2020.
The number of undertrials in Bihar (44,187), which is the second highest on the list, is around half as many as in UP.
Madhya Pradesh, on the other hand, has 31,712 undertrials, followed by Maharashtra with 26,171.
Among states, Arunachal Pradesh has the lowest number of undertrials (127) as of 2020.
State-wise list of undertrial prisoners across India.
(Photo Courtesy: Home Ministry)
'Govt Taking Various Steps To Address Issues of Undertrials': Home Ministry
Minister of State for Home Affairs Ajay Kumar Mishra, in a written reply, said that the government has taken various steps to address issues related to undertrial prisoners.
"MHA has issued several advisories to States and UTs for adopting appropriate measures to provide legal assistance to undertrial prisoners," the minister claimed.
Among them, he said, a provision had been included in the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) which provides for the release of an undertrial prisoner on bail after undergoing detention for a period extending up to half of the maximum period of punishment specified for an offence.
The only exception is if the offence in question has the punishment of death included under the law.
On being asked whether the government had any proposal to release prisoners who had undergone life imprisonment sentences, the Home Ministry said that no such proposal was under consideration.
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