After the Delhi High Court expressed its displeasure over the plight of women undertrial prisoners languishing in the Tihar Central Jail, the jail authorities informed the High Court on Monday that 47 women inmates charged with small offences and imprisoned for more than six months had been bailed out.
In a status report filed before a Division Bench, the Tihar Jail Superintendent said the bail applications of 22 prisoners were drafted by the visiting jail counsels and sent to the courts concerned. The cases of the rest of inmates were being taken up by the Delhi Legal Services Authority (DLSA). The Bench, comprising Chief Justice G. Rohini and Justice Jayant Nath, had last week directed the DLSA to take necessary steps for immediate release of women undertrial prisoners, the charges against whom were not for serious offences.
The status report said 25 of such women inmates had already been released on bail as on August 7, after the list of 105 undertrials was sent to the DLSA on July 17. The list of 47 women undertials was also sent for considering lesser offences out of multiple offences with which they were charged, for considering their release under Section 436-A of the Criminal Procedure Code. The court had last week directed that the panel lawyers of the DLSA would prepare bail applications for 105 undertrial prisoners lodged in Tihar Jail no. 6 and file them in the jurisdictional courts, after which the courts would pass appropriate orders in terms of the Supreme Court’s directions.
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The Bench had observed that the Undertrial Review Committees had already been constituted in all the districts of Delhi in compliance with the Supreme Court’s directions issued in April 2015.
The matter before the court was raised through a letter of Supreme Court Judge Kurian Joseph, which was later turned into a public interest litigation.
Court had last week directed that the panel lawyers of the DLSA would prepare bail applications for 105 undertrial prisoners lodged
in Tihar Jail no. 6