CHRI 2015 Directorate of Correctional Services, West Bengal UNDERTRIAL REVIEW COMMITTEES: SETUP & FUNCTIONING IN WEST BENGAL A Joint Study by: The Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative & The Directorate of Correctional Services, West Bengal UNDERTRIAL REVIEW COMMITTEES: SETUP & FUNCTIONING IN WEST BENGAL i The Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative ¦ The Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) is an independent, non-partisan, international non-governmental organisation, mandated to ensure the practical realisation of human rights in the countries of the Commonwealth. In 1987, several Commonwealth professional associations founded CHRI. They believed that while the Commonwealth provided member countries a shared set of values and legal principles from which to work and provided a forum within which to promote human rights, there was little focus on the issues of human rights within the Commonwealth. UNDERTRIAL REVIEW COMMITTEES: CHRI’s objectives are to promote awareness of and adherence to the Commonwealth Harare Principles, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other internationally recognised human rights instruments, as well as domestic instruments supporting human rights in Commonwealth Member States. Through its reports and periodic investigations, CHRI continually draws attention to progress and setbacks to human rights in Commonwealth countries. In advocating for approaches and measures to prevent human rights abuses, CHRI addresses the Commonwealth Secretariat, Member Governments and civil society associations. Through its public education programmes, policy dialogues, comparative research, SETUP & FUNCTIONING IN WEST BENGAL advocacy and networking, CHRI’s approach throughout is to act as a catalyst around its priority issues. CHRI is based in New Delhi, India, and has offices in London, UK and Accra, Ghana. International Advisory Commission: Yashpal Ghai - Chairperson. Members: Clare Doube, Alison Duxbury, Wajahat Habibullah, Vivek Maru, Edward Mortimer, Sam Okudzeto and Maja Daruwala. Executive Committee (India): Wajahat Habibullah – Chairperson. Members: B. K. Chandrashekar, Nitin Desai, Sanjoy Hazarika, Kamal Kumar, Poonam Muttreja, Ruma Pal, Jacob Punnoose, A P Shah and Maja Daruwala - Director. Executive Committee (Ghana): Sam Okudzeto – Chairperson. Members: Akoto Ampaw, Yashpal Ghai, Wajahat Habibullah, Neville Linton, Kofi Quashigah, Juliette Tuakli and Maja Daruwala - Director. Written by: Executive Committee (UK): Clare Doube – Chairperson. Members: Richard Bourne, Katherine O’Byrne, Meenakshi Dhar, Joanna Ewart-James, Frances Harrison, Sadakat Kadri, Neville Linton, Sashy Madhurima Dhanuka, Nathan, Rita Payne, Michael Stone. Consultant, CHRI ISBN: ISBN 878-93-81241-29-5 Data Analysis & Compilation by: © Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, 2015. Material from this report may be used, duly acknowledging the source. Dev Deep Dutta, Dealing Assistant, Statistics & Human Rights, Directorate of Correctional Services, West Bengal & Amrita Paul, CHRI Headquarters, New Delhi CHRI London CHRI Africa, Accra Programme Officer, CHRI 55A, Third Floor Room No. 219 House No.9, Samora Machel Street Siddharth Chambers School of Advanced Study Asylum Down, Opposite Beverly Kalu Sarai, New Delhi 110 017 South Block, Senate House Hills Hotel Near Trust Towers, Design & Layout by: India Malet Street, London WC1E Accra, Tel: +91 11 4318 0200 7HU, United Kingdom Ghana Gurnam Singh Fax: +91 11 2686 4688 Tel: +44(0) 207 664 4860 Tel/Fax: +233 302 971170 E-mail: [email protected] Fax: +44(0) 207 862 8820 Email: [email protected] Cover photo courtesy: E-mail: [email protected] Shubhamoy www.humanrightsinitiative.org ii UNDERTRIAL REVIEW COMMITTEES: SETUP & FUNCTIONING IN WEST BENGAL Directorate of Correctional Services, West Bengal UNDERTRIAL REVIEW COMMITTEES: SETUP & FUNCTIONING IN WEST BENGAL Written by: Madhurima Dhanuka, Consultant, CHRI Data Analysis & Compilation by: Dev Deep Dutta, Dealing Assistant, Statistics & Human Rights, Directorate of Correctional Services, West Bengal & Amrita Paul, Programme Officer, CHRI Design & Layout by: Gurnam Singh Cover photo courtesy: Shubhamoy UNDERTRIAL REVIEW COMMITTEES: SETUP & FUNCTIONING IN WEST BENGAL iii The Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ¦ The Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative wishes to thank all individuals who enriched this study with their knowledge and experience. We extend our gratitude to Shri Adhir Sharma, Additional Director General of Correctional Services, West Bengal for affording us the opportunity to conduct this study and to enable us to obtain relevant information from all correctional homes in the state. We also thank him for expressing his thoughts in the Foreword of the study. His support and guidance throughout the study has been immense, without which this study could not have been completed. We are grateful to all correctional home officers who provided relevant information in a timely manner and also to those who compiled the information. We thank Ms Maja Daruwala and Ms Sana Das for their invaluable editorial support, as well as all the team members of the Prison Reforms Programme whose support has been instrumental in the completion of this report. Last but not the least, CHRI is grateful to Oak Foundation for their generous grant to help us conduct this study. iv UNDERTRIAL REVIEW COMMITTEES: SETUP & FUNCTIONING IN WEST BENGAL Directorate of Correctional Services, West Bengal ¦ FOREWORD ADHIR SHARMA, IPS ADG & IG, Correctional Services, West Bengal, (M) 9674058172 Memo. No. 590(A)/ADG/15 Dated 13 October 2015 The Indian Constitution upholds the paramount importance of liberty for its citizens, with reasonable restrictions under certain conditions. India is a signatory to the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for Treatment of Offenders and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. This means that all stakeholders in the criminal justice system have a moral duty to accord protection and relevant privileges to prisoners in line with these international covenants. The legal system in India recognises the presumption of innocence as an essential prerequisite of a fair trial. Thus, it is of utmost importance that no person be denied their liberty unless it is the last resort and is set within the due process requirements of the legal framework. Recent amendments in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 have inserted statutory framework, placing restrictions on the police and other law enforcement agencies on arbitrary arrests which often lead to long periods of detention under judicial custody. However, there are no safeguards for undertrials who fail to get bail, or for cases where the investigation of detained persons take years to complete and trials do not conclude within a reasonable time period. As a corollary, it follows that custodial institutions, in particular prisons, should not be used to detain accused persons for prolonged periods of time. This is particularly so, when undertrials don’t have much scope of case review, while they await the completion of the investigation, framing of charges and commencement and completion of their trial without any time frame. One could argue that bail provisions provide a pre-trial detainee with the opportunity to seek release from custody. However, a large proportion of the prison population is illiterate and indigent. As such, there is no assurance that every prisoner has an equal opportunity to engage a competent lawyer in order to seek bail. The importance of the undertrial review committees (URCs) can be seen from this perspective. These are crucial monitoring agencies which can ensure that incarceration of each pre-trial detainee is lawful and not a result of lack of oversight, callousness or negligence on the part of any agency of the criminal justice system. Since 2011, the Directorate of Correctional Services, West Bengal has pursued the government to set up undertrial review committees in each district in compliance with the advisory issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India vide No. 17011/2/2010-PR, dated 9 May 2011. The Honourable High Court of Calcutta gave its concurrence to set up undertrial review committees (URCs) in June 2013 on a reference from the Judicial Department of the Government of West Bengal in the month of May of the same year. However, during a survey undertaken, it appeared that either these URCs were not set up in all districts or they were not functional. As such, the Supreme Court directives issued in 2014 in the Bhim Singh case and in 2015 in the Re Inhuman Conditions in 1382 Prisons case are welcome reinforcements of the same Court’s directives issued way back in 1986 in a matter concerning Andhra Pradesh. It is hoped that with regular monitoring by the Supreme Court in the Re Inhuman Conditions case, an institutional framework would finally evolve in ensuring the no person is detained unnecessarily or illegally in the prisons and correctional homes of West Bengal. Regular reviews by competent courts and the district and state legal services authorities are expected to ensure reduction in overcrowding, help in speedy disposal of cases and prevent arbitrary infringement of people’s liberty without just and reasonable cause. This study was commissioned for the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) to study the correctional homes in West Bengal, review the status of the implementation of the Supreme Court directives and get a correctional