The Bombay High Court on Tuesday directed the Maharashtra government to file an affidavit with details about the installation of videoconferencing (VC) units in courts and jails, within a time frame.
A Division Bench of Justices R.M. Savant and Sadhana Jadhav was hearing a criminal public interest litigation filed by Shaikh Abdul Naeem in 2011 about overcrowded jails and other long-pending reforms in the criminal justice system.
In the last hearing, the Inspector General of Police (Prisons) had informed the Bombay High Court that 186 videoconferencing units will be supplied to all courts in Maharashtra within six months.
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Another Division Bench had been informed that of the 2,200 courts in the State, only 248 courts did not have the facility. The court had noted that the accused are not produced in court mainly because of lack of police personnel to escort them, or non-availability of transportation. Videoconferencing facilities would expedite the disposal of cases and reduce the expenditure on producing the accused in court.