NEW DELHI: Delhi jails have introduced a fresh rule that permits inmates to be granted remission on the basis of their good conduct during their time spent as undertrials, an official said today, April 20.

The Indian criminal system has never before provided such a provision, and prior to this, only convicted offenders were qualified for remission depending on their behavior.

Prison officials claim that this new regulation will enable offenders to be given consideration for remission depending on their behavior during preliminary hearings.

The remission, though, won't be applied to their sentence until after they have been found guilty in their case. This program's goal is to encourage rehabilitation by giving offenders the chance to have their sentences reduced while they are awaiting trial, according to a senior prison official.

According to data from the National Crime Records Bureau for 2021, the proportion of prisoners awaiting trial in relation to the entire jail population was almost 77%. Over 90% of inmates in Delhi Prisons are now awaiting trial, which is much higher than the national average.

It is strange that most laws in the country were written exclusively for criminals. All pardons, work-wages programmes, parole, furloughs, and open institutions are primarily intended for criminals exclusively. Despite the fact that undertrial prisoners make up more than 90% of the population, this is the case. As a result, the convicts awaiting trial seldom have any sources of motivation to keep up their excellent behaviour. A top official from Delhi Prisons stated that this was the rationale behind the addition of a new rule to the jail manual.

He explained that the new rule added specifies that any convict who is qualified for regular remission would also be eligible for award of remission for the good conduct throughout his period of incarceration as an undertrial prisoner because the majority of time an inmate spends in jail is as an undertrial prisoner.

"This remission will be on the basis of his/her annual good conduct report for that period. The report for a year during the undertrial period will earn 30 days of remission, once the concerned undertrial is convicted. This rule is expected to help in keeping the undertrials in discipline and motivate them for reformation," the official added.

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