India’s Interior Minister has pledged to address the country’s chronic court backlogs by granting bail to detainees awaiting trial for non-serious crimes who have served at least one-third of their potential sentence.
India’s justice system is widely criticized for its slow pace, with millions of cases pending in courts across the country.
As of early 2024, government statistics show that over 134,000 people are in detention awaiting trial, including 11,448 who have been imprisoned for over five years without a sentence. Although the exact number of detainees affected by the new bail conditions is unclear, Home Minister Amit Shah stated that bail should be granted to eligible prisoners before India’s Constitution Day on November 26.
Shah emphasized his commitment to creating a “scientific and speedy” criminal justice system. “It is our effort that before Constitution Day, there should not be a single prisoner in the country’s jails who has served one-third of their sentence without receiving justice,” he said in a speech to police officers on Tuesday. He also mentioned that if a trial is delayed beyond a certain point, jail officers would be required to initiate the bail process within the court.
The new policy excludes those accused of serious crimes, such as those detained under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), which allows for indefinite detention without trial and has been criticized for being used to stifle dissent.
India’s slow legal processes have been a point of concern for years. Last year, the Supreme Court warned that victims could become “disillusioned” by the sluggish pace of justice, with some trials dragging on for decades.
The country also faces a severe shortage of judges—only 21 per million people—while limited investment in digital infrastructure has hampered efforts to streamline and organize hearings.
