Their life, their term

So, apart from the undertrials themselves, the amendments spell good news for bail lawyers. Some of them told The Sunday Express in Delhi that they had already been approached by their clients or relatives to file fresh bail applications.

On the other hand, in places as far apart as the North-East8212;where Machal Lalung was released last year after 54 courtroom-free years in prison8212;and Mumbai, judicial authorities and undertrials alike had to be enlightened on the new amendments. In Imphal, for instance, there is no official information at all about Section 436A; judicial authorities had to be presented photocopies of The Indian Express report of June 22 for them to know what the issue was.

In Mumbai, Rajendra Shivkumar Yadav, currently serving his seventh year as an undertrial at the Arthur Road Central Prison in a case that attracts a 10-year prison sentence, turned around and said, 8216;8216;Mazaak karta hai8217;8217;, when informed of the provisions of the amendments.

Clearly, the amendments are as much of a challenge to the official information dissemination system as to legal groups, who will have to bunch together common cases to help undertrials walk free.

EVEN as the government8217;s statute-writers heave a sign of relief that this voluminous bunch of CrPC amendments has been implemented after a decade-long delay and a fresh round of CrPC amendments are drafted to include measures to prevent witnesses from turning hostile; to enhance scope of summary trials and so on, the implementation of the Act has exposed plenty of grey areas.

For one, there is no firm data on the number of undertrials who will be affected by an amendment of this nature. Nor is there any roadmap available for the inmates of the 1,135 prisons around the country that will help them benefit from the laws drafted specifically for them.

This is an area where the Government8217;s legal machinery and legal aid groups must now focus their attention.

As of now, Home Ministry officials estimate the new provisions will impact some 40,000 undertrials. But they are also quick to add that it would take upto a year to make an early assessment of the salutory effect of Section 436A on the plight of undertrials and of the government8217; effort to decongest overcrowded prisons.

Convict: RAJ KUMAR GUPTA, 48

Charge: Murder

Sentence: 14 years

Serced: 20 years

WHEN the police came for him, a teary-eyed Raj Kumar Gupta handed over the custody of his three-year-old daughter Savita to his brother. Two years ago, it was his brother who performed her kanyadaan: Gupta was still in prison8212;as he continues to be, 22 years after he was picked up, 20 years after the Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court sentenced him to life imprisonment for the murder of his pregnant wife.

8216;8216;My daughter has visited me several times in jail with her husband. My son-in-law has promised to pursue the case, he has said he will meet senior jail officials,8217;8217; says Gupta.

The Khala Bazar resident and former general storekeeper needs every bit of help he can get. 8216;8216;There has been no reply from the government on his plea. He should be released, but I don8217;t know how,8217;8217; says Suresh Kumar, senior jail superintendent in charge of Lucknow Model Jail.

Gupta says several letters have been sent to the state administration, pleading for his release, but none has borne fruit. 8216;8216;In 2004, I even approached the court and submitted a mercy petition. The court ordered the state government to decide my case within two months, but I am still here,8217;8217; he adds.

According to deputy jailer Lalit Mohan Pandey, such decisions are based on the nature of the crime. 8216;8216;He was convicted of a particularly heinous crime, as he killed his wife when she was pregnant. That is why the state government rejected his mercy plea,8217;8217; he explains.

Till such time as he can walk away, Gupta is rehearsing for his freedom. As part of a prisoner-reform scheme, he leaves the jail premises in the company of a select few 8216;8216;trustworthy8217;8217; inmates at 6.30 am to run a paan shop. Punctually, at 5.30 pm, he returns to the barracks, has a bath, eats and catches up with fellow inmates before turning in for the night.

That8217;s when he dreams about the day when, after a day8217;s work, his footsteps will take him home. 8211; Manish Sahu,Lucknow

Convict: Lal Bahadur Thapa, 43

Charge: Murder

Sentence: 14 years

Served: 19 years

8216;8216;Pata? barked the policeman. A nervous 25-year-old Lal Bahadur Thapa blurted out an address in Nepal. Nearly 20 years later, he relives that moment every single day.

8216;8216;That was my biggest mistake. I had been living in Haridwar since 1973. I was just 13 when my uncle brought me away from Nepal to work with him. But the FIR, the arrest warrants, all documents mention Nepal as my home. That is why I am still here,8217;8217; says Thapa, convicted of murdering his neighbour.

According to Suresh Kumar, senior jail superintendent, Lucknow Model Jail, that address marks him as a 8216;8216;foreign national8217;8217;, excluding him from the state government8217;s prerogative to release lifers after 14 years.

8216;8216;Thapa is a brilliant tailor. His conduct has been excellent. But without a state government order, we can8217;t release him,8217;8217; he adds.

Thapa, on his part, is philosophical. 8216;8216;My wife is dead, we have no children. I have no idea whether my parents are still alive. In all these years, I haven8217;t had a single visitor,8217;8217; he says. 8216;8216;If I am ever released, I8217;ll consider that my good fortune, but I am tired of pleading for my release.8217;8217;

Unlike Gupta, Thapa spends his entire day in jail. 8216;8216;I pass my time by meditating. I refuse to rise to the bait of fellow inmates who remind me of my failed pleas for release. I8217;ve spent my entire youth here, I could well spend my entire life.8217;8217; 8211; Manish Sahu, Lucknow

Undertrial: Cheviar Rai, 42

Charge: Smuggling narcotics

Maximum sentence: 10 years

Served: 5.5 years

Arrested way back in December 2000 on charges of smuggling narcotics and thrown behind bars at Model Jail, Burail, Cheviar Rai says he continues to be uncertain about the nature and quantity of contraband he was supposed to be ferrying.

The Narcotics Control Bureau, Chandigarh, registered a case against him under Sections 20 and 21 of the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, but till date, says Rai, he has not received a copy of the chargesheet against him. Under the NDPS Act, sentences can extend from a minimum of 10 years to 20 years for first offences, depending on the quality and quantity of contraband seized.

To be fair to the NCB, they did furnish a copy of the chargesheet to the lawyer who first took up Rai8217;s case. But for the past year, the lawyer has made no effort to contact the undertrial and is no longer available at the address he had provided for the records.

Feeling abandoned is not a new experience for Rai: Originally from Nepal, he has had no contact with his family since he was thrown into jail. 8216;8216;They don8217;t even know whether I8217;m dead or alive. I think the news of my arrest never reached them because they shifted house,8217;8217; says Rai.

Penniless8212;possibly the reason why his lawyer did the disappearing act8212;friendless and clueless, Rai8217;s faith in the Indian justice system is slowly ebbing away. 8216;8216;I have no idea about the charges I face, I don8217;t know what will be the fate of my case, I can8217;t even guess if I8217;ll ever be released from this prison,8217;8217; says Rai.

According to jail superintendent Subhash Chander, he has tried his best. 8216;8216;Early this year, I wrote to senior officers to approach the court and provide Rai a copy of the chargesheet,8217;8217; he says. 8216;8216;Nothing happened. I also sought free legal aid for him three months ago. Again, nothing has moved.8217;8217;

Clearly, cases such as Rai8217;s are far too common to provoke action. 8211; Varinder Bhatia, Chandigarh

Undertrial: Jarnail Singh, 46

Charge: Attempt to murder

Maximum sentence: 10 years

Served: 14 years

If Jarnail Singh had been convicted of the charge of attempt to murder, he would have been out of Central Jail four years ago. As it happens, his trial is yet to begin and he has already spent 14 years behind bars.

Arrested in 1992 by the Pathankot police, he was shifted to the local Vidya Sagar Government Mental Hospital in December 1994 after he began showing symptoms of schizophrenia. The diagnosis was confirmed, and he was unable to face trial proceedings. 8216;8216;Whenever the trial comes up, he collapses,8217;8217; says hospital director Dr B L Goyal. 8216;8216;Every time he has been to court, his condition has turned acute and he has been sent back to the hospital.8217;8217;

And there he has remained for almost 12 years now. Legal experts say had he been convicted of the crime of which he was accused, he would have been sentenced to 10 years at the most. 8216;8216;Witnesses in the case have died, turned hostile, gone missing. The case against him is very weak. But he8217;s still in jail,8217;8217; despairs Navjot Kaur Chadha, a local criminal lawyer.

Fourteen years ago, Singh was picked up at Pathankot, 120 km away from his home in Tarn Taran district, and arrested for attempting to murder a colleague8212;a charge he denied vehemently at that time. According to FIR no. 57/92, lodged at the Sadar police station, Pathankot, a firearm was found in his possession.

His case first came up before junior magistrate first class G K Dhir and S S Teji and later, in 1993, before sessions judge I C Aggarwal. As the court sessions started, however, his mental instability started becoming apparent till, in 1994, he was diagnosed schizophrenic. Four more years elapsed before he was certified fit to face the court but, in 1997, Singh suffered a relapse and was put on medication again.

In 1999, records say, Singh was produced in court on three occasions, but each time the court declared him unfit for trial.

The hospital, though, continues to treat him like a 8216;8216;criminal patient8217;8217;. Says Dr Goyal, 8216;8216;Though he is medically fit and can be discharged, the pending trial makes him a prisoner in this hospital. He is always under guard.8217;8217;

To add to the tragedy, Singh8217;s family members have abandoned him. 8216;8216;They used to visit him early on after getting permission from jail authorities, but they cut off all relations after he was pronounced schizophrenic,8217;8217; says Dr Goyal. 8216;8216;The patient himself doesn8217;t speak much8212;he sometimes mutters his own name and says that he has committed no crime against anyone.8217;8217;

Maybe one has been committed against him. 8211; Dharmendra Rataul, Amritsar

Undertrial: Kartik Maity, 45

Charge: Culpable homicide not amounting to murder

Maximum sentence: 10 years

Served: 14 years

Kartik Maity first stepped inside Dum Dum Central Jail in 1992, soon after his case was transferred from the Midnapur court. In these 14 years, he has served twice the minimum period he would have attracted if he had been convicted of culpable homicide not amounting to murder.

And the case still continues.In the meantime, Maity has been reduced to a mental wreck. Five years ago, he was diagnosed to be suffering from undifferentiated schizophrenia. Since then, he has been under the care of a mental health NGO, SEVAC.

If Maity had been able to, he would have certainly reacted positively to the new amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code. As it is, it is left to West Bengal8217;s IG Prisons, B D Sharma, to do the honours: 8216;8216;We are aware of the fact of implementation and already steps are afoot for the release of prisoners like Maity. We have had talks with representatives of the National Human Rights Commission as well as legal experts regarding its implementation. We are drawing up a list and will appeal for each individual. It is still up to the court to release the prisoners.8217;8217;

Sharma is optimistic that the development will help both undertrials as well as the jail authorities. 8216;8216;There are many people booked in petty cases who are languishing in our jails for years. Most of our jails are, therefore, overpopulated and stretched,8217;8217; he points out.

According to the IG, 75 per cent of the jail population8212;or around 14,0008212;in West Bengal are undertrials. Around 5 to 10 per cent will have the chance to be released once the amendment is implemented. 8211; Ravik Bhattacharya, Kolkata

Undertrial: Govind Dasain, 50

Charge: Selling drugs

Maximum sentence: 10 years

Served: 6 years

Govind Dasain was 44 when he started counting days8230; and then months, and then years. Six years in Patna8217;s Phulwari jail later, the man has aged beyond his 50 years, but his undertrial status in a case he faces under the NDPS Act hasn8217;t.

It seems a heavy price to pay for being down-and-out. Dasain says that frustration with losing successive jobs led him to the smack habit. His favourite hang-out was a secluded corner near the Patna railway station; that is where the police swooped down on him and booked him8212;for selling the drug, not just snorting it.

8216;8216;I was inhaling the drug, not selling it. But the police let the drug peddler get away and charged me with his crime,8217;8217; complains Dasain.

Abandoned by his family, but cured of the drug habit, prison has been a learning experience for Dasain. So much so he promises to turn over a new leaf when8212;if8212;he walks out of jail. 8216;8216;I will work hard and make a proper life for myself,8217;8217; he vows.

In the meantime, he goes through the prescribed motions. Every so often, he attends court. The court sets another date for the hearing. And Dasain goes back to Phulwari jail. 8211; J P Yadav, Patna