For Delhi’s convicts, good behaviour as undertrials can now mean shorter jail term

“For each month, we can give five days to a convict — three are for labour and two for good conduct. This equals 60 days per year. An additional 30 days can be added to the sentence for good conduct. The government decides on the remission… it can be awarded on January 26th or August 15th. For undertrials, we will cap the remission to 30 days a year. When he/she becomes a convict, they can be eligible for 90 days per year,” said an officer.

The PR department of the Delhi Prisons said this is a step towards correctional administration which will strengthen reformation and rehabilitation of inmates.

“Remission, work wages facility, parole, furlough, open institutions are mainly meant for convicts only. This despite the fact that more than 90% of the jail population comprises undertrial prisoners. Therefore, there is hardly any motivational factor for maintaining good conduct for undertrial prisoners. This was the reason why a new rule was added to the jail manual,” said a senior officer from Delhi Prisons.

Officers also said most of the time an inmate spends in jail is as an undertrial. The new rule will help motivate them to maintain good conduct.

However, sources in the prison department revealed that less than 5% of undertrial prisoners are convicted while the rest are released or cases fall through. “We don’t know how much the new rule will help since conviction rate is usually less than 5%. Also, it might not affect prisoner behaviour since 80-90% of undertrials and convicts are people who don’t indulge in violence or illegal activities and do their duties regularly. Only a few are involved in bad behaviour like smuggling goods, violence and crime. They are chronic offenders…,” said a prison source.