Finally, in an effort to reduce the cumbersome exercise of escorting undertrials to courts and preventing them from escaping, the government will set up videoconferencing facilities in all 62 prisons in the State.
Through the facility, undertrials will not miss their hearing too, as prisons across the State are linked to courts.
The cost of the project is an estimated Rs. 30 crore. The State government will procure high-resolution cameras to ensure clear visibility of undertrials.
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in 15 days’
A sub-committee comprising of officials from Law, Home and e-Governance has been constituted to work out the modalities.
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The committee has been asked to submit its report in the next 15 days and it would placed before the State Cabinet for approval.
Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs T.B. Jayachandra and Home Minister K.J. George told presspersons on Friday that the move is aimed at avoiding the cost and time consumed in escorting undertrials from the prison to courts and back.
“Many undertrials are missing the hearing of their cases in various courts, because of the Police Department’s inability to provide escort facility to take them to courts,” Mr. George said. It is equally risky to take dreaded undertrials to the courts in the busy traffic in cities like Bengaluru. Many times the judges postpone the hearing of cases before the police produce undertrials in the courts,” Mr. George explained.
Perhaps, Karnataka is the first State in the country to provide this facility in all prisons linked with criminal courts.
It is risky to take dreaded undertrials to courts in the busy traffic in cities like Bengaluru. Also, many undertrials miss the hearing of their cases because of the Police Department’s inability to provide escort facility to take them to courts
K.J. GeorgeHome Minister