Framework and schedule for quarterly meetings of Under Trial Review Committees 2024 launched

The meetings are scheduled on April 15, July 15 and October 16. This initiative is in furtherance of several directives of the Supreme Court of India for conducting periodic reviews of the detention of all prisoners.

Justice Sanjiv Khanna, Judge, Supreme Court of India and Executive Chairman, National Legal Services Authority (NALSA), formally released a framework and schedule for quarterly meetings of Under Trial Review Committees in the year 2024. The meetings are scheduled on April 15, July 15 and October 16. This initiative is in furtherance of several directives of the Supreme Court of India for conducting periodic reviews of the detention of all prisoners.

The virtual launch was attended by the Executive Chairpersons and Learned Member Secretaries of the various State Legal Services Authorities; Ld. Chairpersons and Secretaries of the DLSAs and other members of the UTRCs. The UTRC is a district-level committee headed by the District and Sessions Judge, with the District Magistrate, Superintendent of Police, Secretary, District Legal Services Authority and Officer-in-charge of Prisons as members.

It is mandated to conduct quarterly reviews of cases of prisoners in their district and give recommendations for release in appropriate cases. In 2024, these meetings will be conducted across all districts in India as per the schedule launched today. Justice Sanjiv Khanna, while highlighting the crucial mandate of UTRCs to prevent long periods of incarceration during the pendency of trial, gave a rallying call for further streamlining, strengthening, and reinvigorating the functioning of the UTRCs in every district across India.

He emphasized upon the need to increase awareness among lawyers about the fourteen categories of prisoners eligible for review, timely filing of bail applications, and recourse to appellate remedy where bail applications are rejected. Justice Khanna asserted the need to undertake confidence-building steps with prisoners as well as their families, to boost their trust in legal services. The fact that not only has the prison population of India grown substantially in the last decade but there has also been a considerable increase in the percentage and duration of custody of under-trial prisoners.

"In the last five years, the UTRCs across the country have recommended the release of nearly 2.24 lakh prisoners, resulting in the release of over 1.06 lakh prisoners across India," Justice Sanjiv Khanna observed. He also observed that during the two special campaigns of NALSA in the years 2022 and 2023, around 50,000 prisoners were released from the prisons. He stated that these figures were a testament to the seminal role played by the UTRCs.

He however, sounded a note of caution here and stated, "Though on the face of it, the numbers of prisoners released were encouraging, an institutional reflection and analysis of the functioning and efficacy of UTRCs done by NALSA, revealed some gaps, which need to be addressed at the earliest to enhance UTRCs reach and efficacy." He further mentioned that if the UTRCs are conducted in a uniform and concerted manner across the country, as is being sought to be done by this "Framework and Quarterly Schedule of UTRC Meetings", the outcomes are bound to be much better -- every prisoner's case will be reviewed every quarter, which could lead to recommendation and releases in a higher number of cases. (ANI)

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