Parliament Question: Undertrial Prisoners and Measures for Expedited Release

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF LAW AND JUSTICE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2398 TO BE ANSWERED ON FRIDAY, THE 13th FEBRUARY, 2026 UNDERTRIAL PRISONERS AND MEASURES FOR EXPEDITED RELEASE

2398. DR. PRABHA MALLIKARJUN:

SHRI TANGELLA UDAY SRINIVAS:

Will the Minister of LAW AND JUSTICE be pleased to state:

(a) the details of undertrial prisoners lodged in jails for periods of up to three years, three to five years and more than five years, category-wise and State-wise;

(b) the initiatives undertaken to reduce prolonged undertrial detention, along with details of funds allocated, released and utilised therefor;

(c) the details of funds allocated, released and utilised by Undertrial Review Committees during the last five years, year-wise and State-wise, with district-wise details for Andhra Pradesh, including Kakinada;

(d) the number of undertrial prisoners recommended for release by UTRCs and the number actually released during the said period;

(e) the steps taken to operationalise bail reforms under recent judicial directions; and

(f) whether any technology-based systems have been adopted for identification, tracking and timely release of eligible undertrial prisoners and if so, the details thereof, including funding and inter-agency coordination mechanisms? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) OF THE MINISTRY OF LAW AND JUSTICE; AND MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (SHRI ARJUN RAM MEGHWAL)

(a): National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) compiles prison statistics reported to it by the States and Union Territories (UTs) and publishes the same in its annual publication 1“Prison Statistics India”. As per the latest published data for the year 2023, State/UT wise number of undertrial prisoners confined upto three years, three to five years and more than five years in the jails of the country as on 31.12.2023 are attached as given at Annexure – A (Category Wise) and Annexure – B (State Wise). These data are readily

available on National Crime Records Bureau website: https://www.ncrb.gov.in/ uploads/files/PSI-20231.pdf.

(b) and (c): ‘Prisons and Prisoners’ is a State-list subject under Entry 4 of List II of the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution of India. Therefore, the administration and management of prisons and prisoners is the responsibility of respective State Governments. Central Government has also been supplementing the efforts of State Governments in this regard.

With the objective of providing financial assistance to poor prisoners, who are unable to pay the fine imposed on them or are unable to secure bail due to financial constraints, the Government is implementing a scheme named “Support to Poor Prisoners”. The guidelines and SOP for implementation of the Scheme, has provision for bail assistance amounting upto Rs. 1 lakh, prescribing timelines for case processing, and simplification of procedures for drawal and utilisation of funds.

For implementation of the Scheme, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had

provided an annual financial outlay of Rs. 20 crore for three years i.e. 2023-24, 2024-25 and 2025-26. As on 10.02.2026, funds amounting to Rs. 71,71,476/- have already been utilized by States and UTs, providing benefit of the Scheme to 273 eligible prisoners.

Further, National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) has taken initiatives for establishment of Under Trial Review Committees (UTRCs) in all the districts to recommend for release of eligible undertrial prisoners and convicts. Quarterly meetings are held by UTRCs across the country. NALSA allocates funds to the State Legal Services Authorities (SLSAs) and the SLSAs allocate funds to the District Legal Services Authorities (DLSAs) and High Court Legal Services Committees (HCLSCs). NALSA does not maintain DLSA/HCLSC and scheme wise details of funds allocation and utilisation.

2(d) to (f): The number of undertrial prisoners recommended by UTRCs and released during

last five years are as under:

Year No. of UTPs/ Convicts No. of inmates released pursuant to recommended for bail/ UTRCs recom mendations rele ase 2021 36,983 17,020 2022 70,780 35,480 2023 73,274 34,232 2024 53,594 25,982 2025 40,434 22,523 Total 2,75,065 1,35,237 Several initiatives are undertaken by the Government to operationalize bail reforms.

Section 479 (1) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) provides that “Where a person has, during the period of investigation, inquiry or trial under this Sanhita of an offence under any law (not being an offence for which the punishment of death or life imprisonment has been specified as one of the punishments under that law) undergone detention for a period extending up to one-half of the maximum period of imprisonment specified for that offence under that law, he shall be released by the Court on bail.” The Proviso under Section 479 (1) of the BNSS provides further relief to first time offenders/undertrial prisoners and provides that “where such person is a first-time offender (who has never been convicted of any offence in the past), he shall be released on bond by the Court, if he has undergone detention for the period extending up to one-third of the maximum period of imprisonment specified for such offence under that law.” Further, technology based alerts are generated through the ePrisons portal under Inter-Operable Criminal Justice System (ICJS) and are sent to concerned officials for taking appropriate action for timely release of undertrial prisoners.

3Annexure-A Statement referred to in reply to Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 2398 for answer on 13/02/2026 regarding ‘Undertrial Prisoners and Measures for Expedited Release’ State/UT-wise and Category-wise number of Undertrial Prisoners lodged in jails as on 31st December, 2023 S.

State/UT SC ST OBC Others Total No.

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) 1 ANDHRA PRADESH 1089 1453 1908 1118 5568 2 ARUNACHAL PRADESH 9 124 48 7 188 3 ASSAM 863 898 2434 3351 7546 4 BIHAR 8549 1514 26411 10055 46529 5 CHHATTISGARH 2100 3648 4025 1747 11520 6 GOA 44 61 59 312 476 7 GUJARAT 1409 1719 5353 3068 11549 8 HARYANA 5868 1564 5920 5940 19292 9 HIMACHAL PRADESH 537 35 161 1094 1827 10 JHARKHAND 2398 3765 5488 1933 13584 11 KARNATAKA 2627 1237 6888 971 11723 12 KERALA 1115 428 3353 1168 6064 13 MADHYA PRADESH 4385 4891 9279 4409 22964 14 MAHARASHTRA$ - - - - 32438 15 MANIPUR 15 142 104 155 416 16 MEGHALAYA 102 643 48 88 881 17 MIZORAM 77 1168 1 1 1247 18 NAGALAND 25 318 58 31 432 19 ODISHA 4374 3961 3982 2461 14778 20 PUNJAB 7389 2134 3659 11321 24503 421 RAJASTHAN 3636 2767 7240 3620 17263 22 SIKKIM 30 36 89 16 171 23 TAMIL NADU 3887 308 7906 250 12351 24 TELANGANA 831 501 1429 1038 3799 25 TRIPURA 144 185 87 431 847 26 UTTAR PRADESH 20534 3489 31596 17872 73491 27 UTTARAKHAND 1369 298 1284 1447 4398 28 WEST BENGAL 2437 840 2442 14575 20294 29 A & N ISLANDS 0 4 17 147 168 30 CHANDIGARH 267 2 168 281 718 31 DNH & DAMAN DIU 22 16 37 59 134 32 DELHI 3838 383 5753 7860 17834 33 JAMMU & KASHMIR 165 432 187 3784 4568 34 LADAKH 0 20 6 16 42 35 LAKSHADWEEP 0 3 0 0 3 36 PUDUCHERRY 57 0 245 2 304 TOTAL 80192 38987 137665 100628 389910 As per data provided by States/UTs $ Maharashtra did not provide breakup.

Source: Prison Statistics India 2023 Report by National Crime Records Bureau, Ministry of Home Affairs.

5Annexure-B Statement referred to in reply to Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 2398 for answer on 13/02/2026 regarding ‘Undertrial Prisoners and Measures for Expedited Release’ State/UT-wise number of Undertrial prisoners lodged in jails for period of up to three years, three to five years and above five years as on 31st December, 2023 S. Upto 3 3 to 5 Above 5 State/UT No. years Years Years

(1) (2) (5) (6) (7) 1 ANDHRA PRADESH 5529 36 3 2 ARUNACHAL PRADESH 171 14 3 3 ASSAM 7263 136 147 4 BIHAR 45035 1198 296 5 CHHATTISGARH 10975 501 44 6 GOA 390 64 22 7 GUJARAT 10219 866 464 8 HARYANA 18098 778 416 9 HIMACHAL PRADESH 1645 125 57 10 JHARKHAND 12172 931 481 11 KARNATAKA 10867 630 226 12 KERALA 6030 26 8 13 MADHYA PRADESH 21792 1057 115 14 MAHARASHTRA 26402 3823 2213 15 MANIPUR 393 5 18 16 MEGHALAYA 802 55 24 17 MIZORAM 1235 12 0 18 NAGALAND 409 11 12 19 ODISHA 13480 884 414 20 PUNJAB 23270 1050 183 21 RAJASTHAN 15523 1276 464 22 SIKKIM 167 4 0 23 TAMIL NADU 12199 106 46 24 TELANGANA 3769 21 9 25 TRIPURA 847 0 0 26 UTTAR PRADESH 65378 5474 2639 27 UTTARAKHAND 4099 251 48 28 WEST BENGAL 17128 1921 1245 29 A & N ISLANDS 150 16 2 30 CHANDIGARH 679 30 9 31 DNH & DAMAN DIU 102 22 10 32 DELHI 16286 1051 497 33 JAMMU & KASHMIR 3667 626 275 634 LADAKH 36 4 2 35 LAKSHADWEEP 3 0 0 36 PUDUCHERRY 302 2 0 TOTAL 356512 23006 10392

Source: Prison Statistics India 2023 Report by National Crime Records Bureau, Ministry of Home Affairs.

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