Soon, no jail trip for petty crimes

Jails may no more be the ultimate destination for all convicts in criminal cases. If radical prison reforms initiated by the Centre go the desired distance, many convicts in minor cases may end up doing community service or buying freedom by forking out a compensation.

Faced with overcrowding of jails, the ministry of law and justice plans to decriminalise some offences and is looking at alternatives to imprisonment. Thus, criminals arrested for minor, non-violent offences will not be packed off to jails but will be dealt with reformative methods.

These methods include compensation, deferred sentences (particularly in case of minors), verbal and economic sanctions, provisional sentencing, community service, conditional discharge, release under judicial supervision and imposition of fines.

Convicts serving less than one-year imprisonment terms for non-violent offences, juveniles, drug addicts and women are expected to be covered under the new measures, according to sources.

This is the second major step to decongest jails after the government started releasing undertrials on bail, parole and conditional release from January 26. As part of the National Mission for Delivery of Justice and Legal Reforms, 1,543 undertrials have been released from Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, Maharashtra, Goa and West Bengal.

“This is part of the process to decongest jails. We are consulting experts to work out a rational system. There is a need for comprehensive reform in the criminal legislation system and certain changes in sentencing practices. The human rights of offenders need to be protected,’’ M Veerappa Moily, minister for law and justice, told DNA.

The government is going through similar reforms adopted by developed countries and the Tokyo Rules (United Nations standard minimum rules for non-custodial measures list) that have a range of dispositions other than imprisonment that can be imposed at the sentencing stage and are believed to have an acceptable punitive element.

Experts feel an increasing prison population not only puts an enormous financial burden on government but also often proves harmful to offenders and their families.

There is a demand for rationalising the sentencing policy, including wider use of alternatives to prison, seeking to reduce the people being isolated from society for long periods.

“Every punishment serves a social purpose. Punishments like imprisonment are given as a deterrent to the offenders. But putting offenders in jail isolates them from society on the plea that they are harmful,’’ said Altaf Ahmad, former additional solicitor-general. He said here was a need for alternative ideas. “But we also need checks and balances as a rapist cannot be allowed to let go with community service,’’ he said.

A report by the United Nations office of drugs and crime said that prisons rarely rehabilitate.