Bombay HC bats for producing undertrial prisoners for court proceedings through video-conferencing

The Bombay High Court has said undertrial prisoners should be produced before courts via videoconferencing VC whenever permissible as bringing them physically to courts for every hearing was a cumbersome procedureA single bench of Bharati Dangre directed the Maharashtra government to make necessary funds available to ensure that every court is provided screens and other videoconferencing facilitiesThe court order dated November 10 was made available on FridayThe issue was raised in a bail plea filed by one Tribhuvansing Yadav who had claimed that his application for bail in the lower court was adjourned on 23 occasions as he was not produced before the court physically or through videoconferencingThe bench noted that as per a report submitted by the inspector of prisons and correctional services in September 39 prisons in Maharashtra have 329 sanctioned videoconferencing units of which 291 were functionalThe court in its order stated that if the facility is made available to all courts in the state it may not be necessary to produce the accused persons at various stages of the proceedingsThis producing prisoners physically is a cumbersome procedure which consumes time money and resources the high court saidInmates should be produced via videoconferencing for reasons such as security concerns nonavailability of police personnel to accompany them to courts and so on it saidThe court noted that to make the facility more effective screens would be needed in all courtsIt is necessary that every person incarcerated and housed in a prison as an undertrial prisoner must on the allotted date be produced before the court either physically or through videoconferencing the bench said adding that the court should also ensure that a videoconferencing link is made available to the prison authorities in advanceIt would be better if each court had a designated link so that the procedure is streamlined and the prison authorities are not searching for links at the 11th hour it saidIt is necessary that every court shall have a dedicated link If dedicated links are allotted and time slots are scheduled then production of the accused person before the court can be a simple procedure instead of taking the prisoner physically to court it heldThe bench directed the state government to provide funds for the sameThe court also directed all courts to ensure that dates are allotted for each case and intimated to the concerned prison authorities through the police station incharges so that every undertrial prisoner is produced before the court through videoconferencing or physicallyThe bench had earlier appointed advocate Satyavrat Joshi to assist the court on the issue and had directed him to visit the Arthur Road Jail and Taloja prison and submit a reportJoshi in his report stated that there are 16 units for videoconferencing at Arthur Road Jail while in Taloja there are 19However in both prisons inmates claim that they are not produced before courts via videoconferencing and sometimes they are not taken physicallyThe report also claimed that there was poor network connectivity and a lack of technicians to help out with videoconferencingThe bench directed that the report be forwarded to the state home department for necessary steps to make the facility more effectiveThe court will hear the matter further on December 4This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever