Expressing concern on overcrowding of prisons across the country, Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna on Tuesday stressed on the need for reforms in criminal courts and decriminalisation of laws to tackle the problem.
Speaking during the celebrations of Human Rights Day-2024, organised by the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) under the theme ‘Every Right, Every Life’ at the Supreme Court premises, the CJI said that in order to ensure compassionate and humane justice, criminal courts required a lot of emphasis and reform.
Though a number of laws have been decriminalised, a lot of work was still in progress, especially to reduce the number of undertrial prisoners, he noted.
The CJI said that the Indian jails were over-occupied up to 119 percent of its capacity, housing 519,000 prisoners against a capacity of 436,000.
Highlighting Section 479 of the Bhartiya Naksha Sanhita 2023, which allowed first-time offenders to be released after serving one-third of their maximum potential sentence, as a progressive step toward addressing these challenges, he said that Section 479 acknowledged the crucial reality that prolonged undertrial detention affected the presumption of innocence, while trapping individuals, especially those from marginalised background, in deepening cycles of disadvantage and societal alienation.
CJI Khanna said NALSA’s “Special Campaign for Elderly and Terminally Ill Prisoners”, which was launched today, aimed at ensuring expedited legal aid and compassionate justice for these vulnerable groups.
The campaign will continue till March 10, 2025, with operational units at national, state, and district levels. Additionally, newly developed awareness materials were unveiled to empower citizens by enhancing understanding of their rights and NALSA’s 13 targeted schemes, including a toll-free helpline.
CJI Khanna said India’s legal system was the largest and most comprehensive legal system across the world, with a workforce of 43,050 paralegal volunteers, 1,227 prison legal service facilities and 419 grassroots legal aid centers.
The CJI, who is also the Patron-in-Chief of NALSA, said that 17.5 crore cases have been resolved via Lok Adalats in 2024 and more than 7.76 lakh beneficiaries got assistance this year. NALSA has provided aid to over 25,000 individuals pre-arrest and 150,000 during remand, he added.
He said human rights were the bedrock of human society, which were imperative for ensuring global peace.
Quoting President Droupadi Murmu and citing the need to counter the ‘Blackcoat System’, which arose because of deep seated fear and sense of alienation among the common man towards the criminal justice system, the CJI called for compassionate and humane justice system by simplification and decolonisation of laws.
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Speaking during the celebrations of Human Rights Day-2024, organised by the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) under the theme ‘Every Right, Every Life’ at the Supreme Court premises, the CJI said that in order to ensure compassionate and humane justice, criminal courts required a lot of emphasis and reform.
Though a number of laws have been decriminalised, a lot of work was still in progress, especially to reduce the number of undertrial prisoners, he noted.
The CJI said that the Indian jails were over-occupied up to 119 percent of its capacity, housing 519,000 prisoners against a capacity of 436,000.
Highlighting Section 479 of the Bhartiya Naksha Sanhita 2023, which allowed first-time offenders to be released after serving one-third of their maximum potential sentence, as a progressive step toward addressing these challenges, he said that Section 479 acknowledged the crucial reality that prolonged undertrial detention affected the presumption of innocence, while trapping individuals, especially those from marginalised background, in deepening cycles of disadvantage and societal alienation.
CJI Khanna said NALSA’s “Special Campaign for Elderly and Terminally Ill Prisoners”, which was launched today, aimed at ensuring expedited legal aid and compassionate justice for these vulnerable groups.
The campaign will continue till March 10, 2025, with operational units at national, state, and district levels. Additionally, newly developed awareness materials were unveiled to empower citizens by enhancing understanding of their rights and NALSA’s 13 targeted schemes, including a toll-free helpline.
CJI Khanna said India’s legal system was the largest and most comprehensive legal system across the world, with a workforce of 43,050 paralegal volunteers, 1,227 prison legal service facilities and 419 grassroots legal aid centers.
The CJI, who is also the Patron-in-Chief of NALSA, said that 17.5 crore cases have been resolved via Lok Adalats in 2024 and more than 7.76 lakh beneficiaries got assistance this year. NALSA has provided aid to over 25,000 individuals pre-arrest and 150,000 during remand, he added.
He said human rights were the bedrock of human society, which were imperative for ensuring global peace.
Quoting President Droupadi Murmu and citing the need to counter the ‘Blackcoat System’, which arose because of deep seated fear and sense of alienation among the common man towards the criminal justice system, the CJI called for compassionate and humane justice system by simplification and decolonisation of laws.
The post appeared first on .