NEW DELHI (AFP) – India’s interior minister has vowed to tackle chronic court backlogs by issuing bail to detainees awaiting trial for non-serious crimes who have completed at least a third of their possible sentence.
The world’s most populous nation has a notoriously slow justice system, with millions of cases pending in the courts. At least 134,799 people are in detention awaiting trial, including 11,448 languishing in jail without a sentence for more than five years, according to government statistics from early 2024.
No details were given as to how many detainees the new bail conditions could impact, but Home Minister Amit Shah said bail for eligible prisoners should be made before November 26.
Shah said he was determined India would have 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 his sentence and has not yet got justice,” Shah said.
