NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on directed judicial officers to release all those undertrial prisoners who have spent half of the maximum sentence for the offences they are charged with.
The Supreme Court is the apex court in India and it is asked all judicial officers to visit jails from October 1 and file report after two months on prisoners released by them.
According to data, of nearly four lakh prisoners across India, about two-thirds or 2.5 lakh, are facing trial and have spent years in jail without conviction.
Although, as per the Indian law, prisoners can be released if they have completed half the sentence for their offence but the rule has been ignored more often.
The order was passed while hearing a petition on foreign prisoners kept in Indian jails far beyond the sentence for their offence.
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