Take the case of former Delhi University professor GN Saibaba. Saibaba was acquitted by the Bombay High Court in March. convicted Under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for Maoist activities and spent nearly 10 years behind bars as an undertrial and convict.
The High Court in its judgment said that the prosecution had failed to link Saibaba to any crime. “In fact, no evidence has been brought by the prosecution to link the individuals (Saibaba and other accused) with any actual terrorist act committed in the past or to demonstrate how those individuals were directly connected and its Were responsible for. Commission of any other terrorist act,” the court observed.
After his release, Saibaba – who is disabled – said he had developed serious medical conditions in prison, including a heart condition. The former professor was not even allowed to attend his mother’s funeral. “The the prison The department and the government deprived me of fulfilling my mother’s wishes in her last days,” he said.
There are many other cases, not always of serious crimes, where people remain behind bars for years waiting to be acquitted. This term is used to describe cases where a person is arrested, jailed and denied bail for a long period of time, which is classified as a “miscarriage of justice”. can be done.
Along with experts, the report of the Law Commission also indicates that this problem is very prevalent. Indian criminal justice system. Its costs are almost entirely borne by the accused, such as the loss of prime years of one’s life and the emergence of health problems arising during imprisonment.
In countries like America and Britain, which have to face wrongful prosecution are eligible to file a claim for Compensation, which are then evaluated. In India, courts have pointed to lack of evidence and even malicious or politically motivated prosecutions. But those who face the legal process do not even get forgiveness, leave alone compensation.
How bad is the situation?
Close to 75% of India’s 1,330 prisons are undertrials, according to National Crime Records Bureau data for all states for 2022.
Nearly half of the 4.34 lakh undertrials in Indian prisons are between the ages of 18 and 30, which are their most economically productive years. A total of 3.26 lakh prisoners are facing cases registered under Indian Penal Code offences. Data for 2022 shows that the overall conviction rate for crimes under the IPC is around 35%.
Take the case of 17 people arrested from Mohad in Madhya Pradesh’s Burhanpur district in 2017. His alleged crime was celebrating Pakistan’s victory in the ICC Champions Trophy final against India. Two of those arrested were minors.
He was initially charged with criminal conspiracy and promoting enmity. During some court hearings, slogans like “Desh ke gaddaron ko, goli maaro saalon ko” (shoot the country’s traitors) and “hang the terrorists” (hang the terrorists) were chanted at him. He remained in jail for more than six years as an undertrial prisoner. All of them were acquitted by the district court.
“After considering all the evidence, pleadings and eyewitnesses, there is no evidence that the accused raised slogans and burst firecrackers,” the trial court’s judgment said.
In the case of Kashmiri professor Javed Ahmed Hazam, who was teaching at a college in Maharashtra’s Kolhapur district, his ‘crime’ was posting two WhatsApp statuses in August 2022, due to which he was charged with promoting enmity.
On August 5, his WhatsApp status said ‘Black Day Jammu and Kashmir’ to mark the abolition of the state’s special status. His WhatsApp status on August 14 read: ‘Happy Independence Day Pakistan’.
Hazam spent about a month behind bars and then fought a legal battle for almost two years before the case was quashed by the Supreme Court. The court said that everyone has the right to criticize the action of abrogating Article 370 and changing the status of Jammu and Kashmir.
The court said, “If every criticism or opposition to the actions of the State would be considered an offense under Section 153A, democracy, which is an essential feature of the Constitution of India, would not survive.”
The court also commented about the need to educate the police machinery on the fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression.
worse under special laws
Under the stringent UAPA – where getting bail is even more difficult than in other criminal cases – more than 24,000 people were accused in 5,027 cases registered between 2016 and 2020. Data revealed in response to a question in the Rajya Sabha showed that only 212 people were convicted and 386 were acquitted in these cases.
Justice Abhay thipsay (Retd) – who was in the Allahabad and Bombay high courts – said that in many cases undertrial prisoners are not being granted bail and judges are avoiding bail pleas.
Trial court has an important role
“There is no doubt that there should be a process and it can emerge from the trial court’s decision,” said senior Bombay High Court lawyer Amit Desai.
According to Desai, the trial court is the best place to decide who can be held liable or responsible in a case where a person has been wrongfully persecuted by the investigating agency or the prosecution.
However, he said, some changes could be made to the laws. According to Desai, an accused person should be extended the same rights as victims in the Code of Criminal Procedure. “It is absolutely essential to balance the rights of the victim and the accused,” he said.
Senior lawyer Sanjay Hegde, who mostly practices in the Supreme Court, also believes that there should be a law to allow courts to adjudicate on cases where the rights of the accused are completely ignored during the prosecution. or are violated. “There should be a law that defines these things so that trial courts feel empowered to make such observations or pass relevant orders,” Hegde said.
The senior counsel said that such cases should not be considered where a person has been acquitted for reasons other than wrongful prosecution.
How much compensation?
A report submitted by the Law Commission in August 2018 included various suggestions about a special law to compensate victims. But they remained suggestions only. The commission headed by former Supreme Court judge Justice BS Chauhan recommended a law to compensate the victims. miscarriage of justice And special courts in each district that will adjudicate cases expeditiously.
The report said any person acquitted by a court in a case should be able to file a claim. These special courts may have the power to direct authorities to initiate proceedings against guilty officials.
The commission suggested interim compensation between Rs 25,000 and Rs 50,000 in cases where a person has spent more than six months in jail. It said the final compensation should be decided on the basis of all the losses suffered by the petitioner – including loss of property, health, opportunities and family life.
The report said the court should also provide “non-pecuniary assistance” to the petitioners to rehabilitate the victims.
Justice Thipsay said that the biggest challenge in addressing wrongful prosecutions is that society does not feel very strongly about the issue. “People just think that if someone was wrongly prosecuted, he or she is ultimately acquitted or acquitted. So, that’s enough,” he said. “There is no resentment, so the system feels there is no need to do anything else,” he said.
