By IANS,
New Delhi: Expressing concern over prisoners languishing in Tihar jail here, the Delhi High Court Wednesday directed trial courts to expedite their cases.
A division bench of acting Chief Justice Madan B. Lokur and Justice Mukta Gupta asked the District and Sessions Judge to compile a report about the pending cases in various courts and how soon can they be wrapped up.
According to an affidavit filed by the Tihar jail, of 11,000 prisoners, 2,000 are convicts. The others are facing trial.
“(Of) these 268 prisoners are languishing in jail for more than five years,” said Meera Bhatia, counsel for the Delhi government.
A surprised bench asked: “Why are these people still in jail when they have spent half of their prison term without their case being heard in the court?”
The court expressed concern over the fewer public prosecutors in the trial court. It asked the government to file an affidavit giving their total number and the vacancies.
The court was hearing a suo moto plea of lawyer Manish Khanna, who filed a Right to Information application on the condition of undertrials in the Tihar jail.