VIJAY DEO JHA
Ranchi, March 31: The jails of Jharkhand are just not overcrowded with prisoners, the undertrials constitute two-thirds of the total occupancy. This phenomenon is quite alarming in the jails of the districts which are affected by left-wing extremism. There are 22 such jails in Jharkhand which are crammed with inmates.
For instance, the occupancy rates are so high that Chatra Jail has the capacity to accommodate only 203 inmates, but 617 inmates have been crammed. Out of them, 596 are the undertrials. No wonder Chatra jail has an astronomical occupancy rate of 303.94 percent.
Gumla is another Naxal hit district that has lodged 605 inmates against a capacity of 231. But only four of them are convicts and the rest are undertrials. The overall percentage of current occupancy of Gumla jail is 261.90 percent. Latehar jail is housing 398 inmates when it has the capacity to accommodate only 166 inmates. With an overall 239.76 percent as current occupancy, Latehar jail has only one convict and the rest are undertrials. The district Jail of Garhwa has lodged inmates which is 183.60 percent excess of its capacity. There are 459 inmates against a capacity of 250. The total number of convicts is 26 in this jail.
Besides, Central Jail Deoghar (227.76 %), Central Jail Giridih (171.66 %), District Jail of Simdega (171.63%), District Jail of Lohardaga (170.95%), Sub Jail Rajmahal (170 %), District Jail of Jamtara (169.60 %), District Jail of Saraikela (165.10%), Central Jail Medininagar (158.46 %), Sub Jail Madhupur (151.38%), District Jail of Sahebganj (148%), District Jail Chaibasa (141.55%), District Jail of Koderma ( 140.48%), Sub Jail Khunti (131.80 %), District Jail of Godda (125.17 %), District Jail of Pakur (114.22 %), District Jail of Chas in Bokaro (109.20 %), Central Jail Ghaghidih (107.80) and Central Jail Dumka (107.74%) are not offering any rosy figure.
These are among 30 jails of Jharkhand which are highly overcrowded exposing the poor state of the criminal justice system of Jharkhand. This is revealed through a report from the jail department based on the data prepared in September last year. According to the report, a total of 20,420 inmates are lodged in 30 jails in Jharkhand against the actual capacity of 16,845. The percentage of total occupancy is 121.22%. Of 20,420 inmates, 5039 are convicts whereas the remaining 15380 are undertrials.
In 2020, against the capacity of 16014, the number of jail inmates was 18274 and out of this, 12484 were undertrials.
“The jail system in Jharkhand needs massive improvement. The trial of the cases will have to be fast-tracked. During the Covid 19, the court remained closed hence there have been backlogs of cases. You just can’t say that crime has increased and police are quickly arresting and putting them in jail and it has made jails overcrowded. There are several other factors,” said Jharkhand High Court lawyer Rajiv Kumar.
Jharkhand has 7 central jails, 16 district jails, 7 sub-jails, and an open jail cum rehabilitation center which are operational.
Some of the jails have either a very low or standard occupancy. For instance, Birsa Munda Central Jail in Ranchi which is the biggest jail in Jharkhand with 3666 occupancies has 3341 inmates. Similarly, Jai Prakash Narayan Central Jail in Hazaribagh can accommodate 1990 inmates. Against this 1970 are lodged. The district jail of Dhanbad has 817 inmates against a total strength of 856.
In 2020 when life came to a standstill due to Covid -19 pandemic, concerns were raised about the health of inmates in the jails. Taking note of the concern, the Supreme Court directed all states to take necessary steps. A high-level meeting chaired by Justice HC Mishra of Jharkhand High Court had reviewed the situation. The meeting was attended by the then additional chief secretary of Home and Prison Sukhdev Singh and IG (Prison) Shashi Ranjan.
At that time Sukhdev Singh had informed that other than shifting inmates from the crowded jails to less crowded jails the government was expediting to operationalize three other jails. These three jails were proposed at Barhi (Hazaribagh), Nagar Utari (Garhwa), and Chakradharpur in West Singhbhum. But despite the buildings were constructed these have yet not been operationalized.
“The jail building is ready but it is not operational,” said a police official of Garhwa. The sub-jail at Barhi is operational but the number of the inmate is only 16.
