CrPC amendment:Punjab begins identifying exercise of prisoners

Amritsar, June 28 (UNI) The Punjab government has commenced the tedious task of identifying inmates lodged in various prisons of the state who are expected to walk free following the recent amendment to the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), ADGP (jails) H R Chadha said here today.

''As of now, we don't know the numbers, but we have begun the identification exercise,'' he told mediapersons inside the high security central jail here. Amongst the inmates expected to be released are certain terrorists being tried in cases registered during the period of militancy in the state.

A fourth of the over two lakh undertrials in jails across the country may walk free because of the amendment, notified by the Home Ministry last week.

Undertrials for crime other than those for which death penalty is specified and who had already been detained for up to one-half of the maximum period of imprisonment specified for that offence ''shall be released by the Court on his personal bond with or without sureties'', the amended Section 436A of the CrPC says.

While certain exceptions are allowed, in no case would a person be held in jail if he has already served ''more than the maximum period of imprisonment provided for the said offence under that law'', according to the amendment.

Mr Chadha said the release of prisoners would definitely help in ''easing the pressure in the jails''. Presently, there were around 14,000 prisoners against the capacity of about 11,000 in prisons in the state, he added.

There are five district jails, 10 sub-jails, one women's jail, 20 pre-jails and one Juvenile home in the state.

UNI XC-HS PK RAI1931