The last full budget of the second term of the Modi government has been presented. There is a lot of discussion about the announcement made by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for the release of prisoners. The Finance Minister has announced that the Central Government will help such prisoners who are unable to be released due to lack of bail or fine amount. After his announcement, discussion started about whether this decision has been taken suddenly or the reason behind this announcement is the speech of President Draupadi Murmu, which he gave in the Supreme Court Auditorium on Constitution Day. So let us know when the debate on the release of poor and helpless prisoners started.
On 26 November 2022, the country’s President Draupadi Murmu reached the Supreme Court auditorium on Constitution Day. Here he had to address a program. The President first read a formal official speech in English, but after finishing the speech, he spoke emotionally in Hindi. After his speech, the entire auditorium of the Supreme Court echoed with thunderous applause.
While finishing her speech in English, Draupadi Murmu folded the pages and said, ‘I have come from a very small village. We have seen since childhood that we villagers consider only 3 people as God, Guru, Doctor and Lawyer. Guru is in the role of God by giving knowledge, doctor by giving life and lawyer by giving justice. The President asked the judges in an emotional way to think about the people in jail. People have been jailed for years for the crime of slapping. Think for them.
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The President further said that he neither knows his rights nor the Preamble of the Constitution, nor the fundamental rights or constitutional duties. No one is thinking about them. His family members do not have the courage to rescue him. Because in fighting the case, even the utensils of their house are sold. The killers who end the lives of others roam outside, but the common man remains in jail for years for minor crimes. The President said that there is talk of building more jails, what kind of development is this. Jail should be abolished.
Just three days after the President’s speech i.e. on November 29, the Supreme Court had taken a big step regarding the release of the prisoners lodged in the jail. The Supreme Court has ordered the release of such accused in jail for minor crimes, who are locked in jail due to not being able to fulfill the conditions of bail. A bench headed by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul had said that the states should give the data of such prisoners in the form of a chart in 15 days. Also told NALSA (National Legal Services Authority) that it will provide all assistance including legal aid.
It was only after these incidents that the discussion on such prisoners had started and it is believed that the touching speech of the President has had a direct impact on the announcement of the budget. After the announcement of the Finance Minister, hope has arisen among the poor prisoners lodged in the jails of the country. Even if we do not look at the statistics of states like Bihar, Odisha, Bengal, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, the annual income of 70 to 80 percent of the prisoners in Tihar, Rohini and Mandoli jails of the country’s capital is less than Rs. Is. These also include natives of other states and countries. There are 16 jails including women’s jail in these three prison complexes of Delhi.
After the budget speech, Sunil Gupta, former Public Relations Officer cum Legal Advisor of Tihar Jail, also said that this step only helped in the release of about 12 to 15 thousand prisoners out of about 20 thousand prisoners lodged in Delhi jails after the bail order. Can
By the way, under the legal provision, every month a list of such prisoners with detailed information is sent to the Legal Services Authority, who do not have money. Because about 80 percent of the prisoners whose financial condition is poor, about 25 percent of them are not residents of Delhi but of other states.
Recently, the National Legal Services Authority ie NALSA had said in its report in the Supreme Court that despite being granted bail, more than 5,000 undertrials were lodged in jails. Out of them only 1417 were released. There are still a large number of undertrial prisoners in jails who are unable to bear the amount of fine or bail. His family members are also helpless. Because the family, who has been broken after fighting the case, does not have the money for bail.
