-The Telegraph It has been estimated that 76% of all Prisoners in India — 371,848 in absolute numbers — are undertrials Days after the Indian president, Droupadi Murmu, highlighted the plight of poor and tribal undertrials languishing in jails for petty crimes despite getting bail, the Supreme Court has sought details of such Prisoners for formulating a national scheme for their release. This is timely. It has been estimated that 76% of...

-The Hindu Apex court says mitigating investigators need to be given access to the Prisoners to dig out any circumstances which may help the court when it hears the appeal In a significant order, the Supreme Court has made it clear that the psychological evaluation of condemned Prisoners by expert doctors, and access to them by mitigating investigators, are essential before the hearing begins on their appeals against the death penalty. A Bench...

-The Hindu Prisons are meant to facilitate rehabilitation but have become disempowering spaces with a mental health crisis The latest numbers are out. 9,180 Prisoners with mental illness, 150 deaths by suicide, five Prisoners with schizophrenia and epilepsy have died. While we know the numbers, we do not know what is being considered as a mental illness and whether these numbers are limited to persons who are in the mental health ward, or...

-TheWire.in There is little doubt that the practice of handing out freebies undermines both democracy and development. But the problem doesn't lie just with the opposition. Constitutional authorities in India have recently spoken about key challenges the country is facing. The Chief Justice of India (CJI) has said that there is “diminishing” space for the opposition, that there was no longer any mutual respect between the Union government and the opposition, and that...

-The Hindu The Criminal Procedure (Identification) Bill 2022 erodes the privacy of those convicted of crime and the ordinary citizen Springing a surprise, the Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, Ajay Mishra Teni, on Monday introduced the Criminal Procedure (Identification) Bill 2022. The Bill was neither put up for pre-legislative consultation nor indicated in the session’s legislative agenda in Parliament. Seemingly technical, it is a legislative proposal that undermines the privacy...