Justice system works against tribals in Bastar

NEW DELHI: Nineteen-year-old Bhima Kadati was charged in 12 different cases. The cases against the Bastar native continued in court for four years. Though the tribal youth was acquitted in all of them, he never lived to see the day. He died in a Bastar district prison due to medical reasons.

The first study conducted in Naxal-infested Bastar region of Chhattisgarh reveals Kadati’s tragic story and a grim fact — on an average 96%of the tribals arrested are acquitted by the court. The study, conducted by a non-profit organization Jagdalpur Legal Aid Group (JagLag), reveals the three jails in Bastar division are crowded beyond capacity. The reason behind the overcrowding is not lack of capacity but the excessive number of arrests under fake cases.

The study, which sourced the data from a series of RTI applications, concentrated on undertrials lodged in three jails in Bastar division – Jagdalpur central jail, Dantewada district jail and Kanker district jail. The occupancy rate of jails ranges between 260% (in Kanker) and 623% (in Jagdalpur).

This is against an all-India average of 118%. The data of the jails shows that over 90% are undertrials incarcerated for even five years during the trial period. A majority of the undertrials spend over a year in prison in all the three jails. The charges against the tribals are quite severe with over 50% being charged either for murder or attempt to murder. What is worse that the not even 50% tribals get bail. Even if they get bail, they do not have the money for it. The percentage of undertrials released on bail is as low as 22% in Dantewada and just about 40% in Jagdalpur.

Speaking to ET, Isha Khandelwal of JagLag, says, “As per our study the reason for overcrowding is not high arrest rate but because it is taking too long for people to come out of jail. Bail is not granted here and trials are taking very long.

Justice system is being used as a weapon against adivasis here. Since the only information that goes out are police figures and news stories of arrests, this works as a propaganda for the state that they are winning. But in reality most of these arrests are fake. Most of the arrested are innocent villagers.”

ET View

Push judicial reforms

Justice delayed is justice denied. The failure of the criminal justice system to deliver justice to tribal undertrials is unacceptable. Breach of their rights in the procedural processes for adjudication can’t be taken lightly. Jail terms, and that too for crimes which have not been committed, damages their psychological and physical health. The need is to bring in judicial reform, appoint more judges at all levels, and bring down the trial period.