The state government is mulling holding trial through video conferencing of such prisoners who have not appeared before the court for more than a year. The government has also mooted another proposal of allowing bail from police station to such prisoners who have been sentenced for under seven years.
A senior government official said the Department of Prison Administration and Reforms have moved the proposal which now awaits the nod of chief minister Yogi Adityanath.
The state government also issued a press note mentioning that there are many prisoners in UP jails, who are not being summoned for appearance by the court due to transfer and other reasons. Therefore, the department has recommended running their trials through video conferencing.
As per figures put out by the department, a total of 232 prisoners in different jails of the state have not appeared in the court for an year or more. These include 16 prisoners from Ayodhya zone, 55 from Lucknow, 8 from Kanpur, 10 from Varanasi, 5 from Prayagraj, 41 from Meerut, 24 from Gorakhpur, 28 from Bareilly and 45 from Agra zone.
In the press note, the department has cleared that due to transfer of these prisoners from one jail to another, the courts have not called them for appearance for more than a year. “Subsequently, the hearing of their cases gets obstructed. In such a situation, the hearing of their stalled cases can be resumed through trial through video conferencing,” the department has mentioned in the press note.
{{/usCountry}}In the press note, the department has cleared that due to transfer of these prisoners from one jail to another, the courts have not called them for appearance for more than a year. “Subsequently, the hearing of their cases gets obstructed. In such a situation, the hearing of their stalled cases can be resumed through trial through video conferencing,” the department has mentioned in the press note.
{{/usCountry}}Bail in cases of sentence under 7 years can be obtained from police stations
Apart from this, the Department of Prison Administration and Reforms has also mooted a proposal to allow prisoners, sentenced from 3 months to 7 years by the court, be given bail from the police station itself.
The proposal will be implemented after securing chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s nod.
There are 2371 such prisoners awaiting bail in U.P. jails. Mathura jail (395 prisoners) has most of them followed by Ghaziabad jail (235 prisoners), Aligarh jail (213), Naini central jail, Prayagraj (160) and Muzaffarnagar jail (107).