Randall was placed in judicial custody until Advocate Ajay Verma, who is the Senior Fellow of IBJ and the head of IBJ India Trust, filed his bail application. Meanwhile, the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (ACJM), the designated court for extradition conducted an enquiry under the Extradition Act, upon the application filed by the Government of India. He was granted bail by the Delhi High Court in February 2018. Verma represented Randall when he participated in the extradition enquiry.

Extradition request alleged that Randall committed offences which caused the death of Allya Siska Nadya by negligence in August 2015 after giving chiropractic treatment in Jakarta.  Later in the evening, the patient experienced severe pain on her back and neck and was admitted to the Emergency Department of a hospital in Jakarta. Next day she was declared dead at the hospital.

Ajay Verma contested that there was no prima facie case for causing death by negligence. He contested that the death occurred due to the medication administered by the Hospital in Jakarta and not by Randall’s chiropractic treatment. He further argued that the proximity of death was closer with the drugs administered, than that of the treatment. Also that the autopsy was not conducted immediately as warranted by the Indonesian Criminal Procedure Code, and was done when the body was in advance stage of decay, four months after the death. It was further submitted that the forensic report does not suggest that the death of the victim occurred due to Chiropractic therapy.

After eight years of the case being tried, the Court of Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Pranav Joshi discharged Randall on 6^th March 2025 stating, “Prima facie against FC (fugitive criminal) Randall John Cafferty is not made out in respect of the offence under relevant sections of the Penal Code of Indonesian and FC stands discharged.”

When Ajay Verma heard about Randall’s case, he took immediate action. And it is because of Ajay Verma’s diligence as well as deep commitment to his client that Randall is a free man and can fly back to America and be reunited with his family. Being wrongfully accused is terrifying, but being stranded on foreign soil can be a deeply traumatising experience. Timely and quality legal representation by Ajay Verma has resulted in realising justice. And Ajay Verma has been leading IBJ’S work in India since the organisation began its work in 2008.  He has been instrumental in training over 26,825 defense lawyers in India and providing legal representation to over 3000 individuals in the last 24 years.

As a part of a joint initiative between IBJ India and Delhi Prisons to spread awareness among jail inmates about their rights and duties as prescribed under the law, a team consisting of Mr. Ajay Verma, IBJ Senior Fellow and Advocate, and Ms. Pankhuri Mehandiratte, Advocate, visited Central Jail No.3 on 31 March 2015. Tihar Jail has been identified as Asia’s largest prison complex, housing more than 12,000 under trial and convicted belonging to all age groups.

The event saw an active participation of over 200 inmates who had been charged for petty offences and were waiting for their trial to be completed. The main purpose of the event was to make the inmates aware about the provisions of bail and surety bonds and the juvenile justice act while informing them of their legal rights and duties. Mr. Sanjay, the prison welfare officer appointed by the Government as per Delhi Prisons Act, 2000, also contributed to the interactive discussions with the inmates.

Mr. Ajay Verma and Ms. Pankhuri Mehndiratta were given a warm reception by the prison administration. Mr. Ajay Verma discussed the provisions of bail in bailable and non-bailable cases, addressing the common problem of conditions of bail and surety bonds. A brief discussion followed about the provisions of the existing Juvenile Justice Act. Many inmates were under the false impression that the lawyers appointed by the Legal Services Authorities are state lawyers and that they will not get proper representation as they are being prosecuted by the state. Mr. Ajay Verma clarified this misconception after sharing his 13 years of experience working as a Legal Aid Lawyer. The inmates were also informed about their right to free legal aid. This event also introduced the ‘Information Booklet’, developed by IBJ India and Delhi Prisons to further inform the inmates of their legal rights.

Many inmates were hesitant to disclose their details at first, but IBJ India was able to identify 10 people who were in need of legal aid. IBJ will be returning to meet with them one-on-one in order to ensure that they receive proper representation.

The legal rights awareness event proved to be a huge success. IBJ India is delighted to have the support of the prison authorities and will work to strengthen the bond established between the prison administration and IBJ lawyers. The event proved to be another important step towards strengthening the legal justice system in India.

By Ritvik Mawkin, Intern, IBJ India

Pankhuri A. Mehndiratta and Katyayini,  IBJ India

IBJ India in collaboration with Delhi Prisons organized a two-day capacity building workshop for warders and custodial staff at the Prison Headquarters, Tihar, New Delhi on September 26 -27, 2014. The workshop was aimed at building capacity and legal awareness within the prison system in Tihar. It was attended by custodial staff including Warders, Head Warders, and the Assistant Superintendent from each prison in the Tihar Central Jail and Rohini District Jail. Both days at the workshop saw an encouraging level of interaction and participation by the custodial staff.   After the short introduction given by IBJ India fellow, Mr. Ajay Verma, the Deputy Inspector General, Mr. Mukesh Prasad, inaugurated the session. Mr. Sunil Gupta, Law Officer, Tihar jail, then gave a brief overview of the Delhi Prisons Act and the role of warders.

Mr. Alok Verma, Director General of Tihar Jail, held an interactive session with the custodial staff of the Tihar and Rohini prisons. An array of issues was brought to the attention of Mr. Verma ranging from the unsatisfactory living conditions of the warders and custodial staff to the problems that they face due to the lack of internal mechanisms for promotion. IBJ India was able to facilitate constructive dialogue between management and the staff of the prisons in a bid to strengthen mutual understanding of the challenges they both face.

Mr. D V Trivedi, Former Director of the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPRD), discussed the conduct of warders so as to ensure effective prison management. The custodial staff was then asked to share their ideas about prison and the purpose of incarceration. Though the majority of the warders and custodial staff agreed that reformation and rehabilitation was the end goal of incarceration, some of them were of the opinion that it is important to adopt a punitive approach towards inmates who are repeat offenders and display no respect for prison regulations. However, the attitude of the custodial staff was largely sympathetic towards the prisoners, recognizing that personal circumstances could have an influential role in their imprisonment and that it was the prerogative of the courts to pronounce someone guilty.

The session then moved on to the discussion of other issues, including the present infrastructure that needs to be upgraded to keep up to date with the latest technology. One specific demand is the need for more CCTV cameras to ensure complete and effective surveillance on part of the custodial staff. Also addressed was the problem of understaffing that is accentuated by the high professional dropout rate due to lack of incentives, promotions, and low wages. The custodial staff was successfully able to bring awareness that there are inadequate cashless treatment schemes for them and that the very few hospitals that offer this were meager in terms of the quantity and quality of these services. The refurbishment of staff quarters was promised by the Director General (Prisons), Tihar, during his interactive session and will hopefully be looked into immediately. Another major problem that was addressed was prison overcrowding. This leads to overwork and burn out of the custodial staff. Moreover, over 70% of the inmate population is under trial, which makes the implementation of discipline more challenging for the staff members. The problem is further pronounced when inmates, despite having been granted bail, are unable to secure their release on account of lack of a surety or the financial means to secure bond.

Mr. Ajay Verma, Advocate and IBJ India Fellow, discussed the role of custodial staff in ensuring justice for the inmates as well as correct bail procedures u/s 167,436,437 of the CrPC, appeals, parole, furlough and juvenile inmates. He also discussed that the segregation of prisoners should be more clearly defined and suggested specialized cells for first offenders. In order to ensure the awareness of the custodial staff about the prevalent legal provisions, judgments and techniques of administering discipline, it is imperative that they should receive regular training sessions. The prison staff then received instruction on the rights of the prisoners and their duties towards them. During the last part of the session, different reformative measures were discussed by the IBJ team members Ajay Verma (IBJ India Fellow) and Pankhuri A Mehndiratta (Advocate).

Dr. Shahzad Ibrahimi, a renowned motivational speaker, was also present as part of the eminent people that shared their energy for the cause of strengthening the criminal justice system and its pillars in order to ensure respect for human rights. Ms. Deepika Gupta, Consultant Psychologist at Human Dynamic, Gurgaon, shared her views on behavioral disorders and suicidal tendencies of prisoners and the role of prison staff in monitoring prisoners. In her highly engaging session, she gave valuable indicators to identify inmates with behavioral disorders to aid the custodial staff in assessing potentiality of suicide within the cells.

Strengthening the core of the criminal justice system of India through capacity building and awareness training helps IBJ India to live up to its mandate of ensuring the respect for human rights and preventing torture during detention. The entire team of IBJ India is extremely grateful for the support and collaboration of the Delhi prison authorities and looks forward to hosting similar events in the future.

IBJ India organized a two-day paralegal training for the convicts at the Central Jail, Ajmer on the 4th and 5th of October 2014. The workshop aimed at building capacity and awareness of speedy trial to the convicts of the jail. It was attended by ten convicts who were selected according to their educational qualification and happened to be life/long term convicts. IBJ was represented by Advocates Mr. Ajay Verma and Pankhuri A. Mehndiratta.

Inmates at the inaugural session at Central Prison, Ajmer, Rajasthan

The workshop concentrated in particular on the difficulties faced by those held in pre-trial detention to stress how long term convicts can assist with this. The long term convicts are in some way in-house legal resources. Their knowledge of processes on arrest, rights in jail, processes in court, can be of great value in ensuring that legal rights are accessed and prisoners do not unnecessary remain incarcerated. As the IBJ mandate is to provide access to justice, we started with the most common question- “What is law and what is an ideal jail?” Many hands were raised to answer. Next obvious question was, “Do you know about your rights in prison are?” Very few were able to answer this question. Ajay Verma explained the various rights of the prisoners, which includes right to a fair and speedy trial. He emphasized that fair trial is the essence of India’s criminal justice system. Arbitrarily depriving an individual of their liberty is violation of the human rights and right to freedom given by our Constitution to every person. Hence, nobody has the right to put anyone in the prison, to keep there, without any good reason. It is the right of the detainee to raise his/her voice against any wrongful treatment and torture. Those who have been the victim of unlawful arrest have an enforceable right to compensation.

Mr. Ajay Verma, Advocate introducing the purpose of the workshop and explaining their rights and duties

The IBJ Team explained the procedures of first appearance and remand to the prisoners. It is the right of a person who is arrested or detained in custody to be produced before the nearest Magistrate within a period of twenty-four hours of such arrest. No one shall be detained in custody beyond that period without the permission of the Magistrate. The prisoner should be able to get help with keeping their home or job and keeping in touch with their family. They should be able to get help carrying on their business from prison. Remand prisoners are supposed to be treated as if they are innocent until proven guilty. This session discussed the procedures which must be utilized to deliver a fair trial and justice. Right to speedy trial is an essential part of fundamental right. According to article 21, no person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to procedure laid by law. Any delay in trial should be seen as miscarriage of law. The cases pending for years create mental and economic pressure on litigants. Right to speedy trial is the right of the accused and it encompasses all the stages, namely investigation, inquiries etc. A right to fair trial is an essential right respecting the rule of law. It is the right of the defendant to be tried before an impartial jury who on considering the evidences against defendant, decide whether to find him or her guilty of the crime charged. The magistrate should hear the case within the reasonable time. If there is no counsel for the defendant, the magistrate should appoint a counsel. The convicts were also trained on the procedures of parole, bail, legal aid etc. Legal aid is no longer a matter of charity but is one of the constitutional rights. Each person is entitled to free legal aid from the point of arrest. If a prisoner is sentenced to imprisonment is unable to exercise his constitutional right for want of legal assistance, the court has the power to assign, under article 142 read with article 21 and 39-A of the constitution, counsel for such imprisoned individual.

Liberty of every citizen must be zealously safeguarded by courts. Basic rule should be “bail and not jail.” Yet where there are circumstances suggestive of the accused fleeing the course of justice, or possibility of his repeating offences, then he can be denied bail. Once the accused is prepared to furnish bail, the police officer or the court before which he offers to give bail is bound to release him on such terms. Also the terms of the bail are to be reasonable. If a person during the period of investigation or trial undergoes detention for a period extending up to one half of the maximum period of imprisonment specified for that by law, he shall be released by the court on his personal bond with or without sureties. This provision does not extend to offences for which the punishment is life imprisonment or death.

The last part of the session worked to ensure that the inmates were treated more humanely and are provided with at least the minimum standard of living. The prisoners have certain rights when they are sent to judicial custody including: right against solitary confinement, handcuffing and bar fetters, and protection from torture etc.  The convicted prisoners have the right to employment within the jail and wages should be paid accordingly. Every prisoner has the right to an adequate standard of living. They have the right to food, clothing, and proper accommodation at an adequate level. The children in the prison have the right to education and proper upbringing. It is the human right of a person to live their life with respect and dignity. It is the right of the prisoner to be informed of the rules and regulations of the prison. No prisoner shall be stopped from practicing their own religion and every prisoner shall be allowed to satisfy the needs of his religious life. Visits to prisoners by family and friends are a solace in insulation and only a dehumanized system can derive vicarious delight in depriving prison inmates of this humane amenity. Every basic necessity of life shall be provided to the prisoners so that they could have minimum standard of living.

The long standing goal of this two day workshop was to train the convicts to be resources for the prison administration and expedite the judicial process for the inmates in need. This was in tandem with IBJ’s efforts to empower and strengthen the core of the criminal justice system in order to secure respect for legal rights.

We are grateful for the enthusiastic cooperation of the prison authorities. We are looking forward to conducting future events.

Ajay Verma Advocate speaking on Bail

On December 4, 2014 the IBJ India team visited Central Tihar Jail No. 6 in New Delhi to interact with jail inmates and conduct a Legal Awareness Camp inside the Mulahiza Ward (i.e. First Time Offenders Ward). The team consists of Ajay Verma (Fellow & Advocate), Pankhuri A. Mehndiratta (Advocate) and Trishna Mohan Kriplani (Advocate).

The Tihar Jail #6 houses a total of 642 (exclusively women) inmates according to its latest figures, among which there are 29 foreign nationals. A staggering 73% of the entire prison population (472 prisoners) is under trial. This statistic once again sheds light on the issue of overcrowding almost all prisons in India with mainly under trial population. The rules under the Delhi Jail Manual and Delhi Prisons Rules (2000) permit women inmates to keep their children with them until they attain the age of six years. In line with this provision, there are 44 children who are housed in the Tihar Jail # 6 complex as well.

The session was interactive and was received very positively by the inmates and prison administration alike. The IBJ India team identified a number of critical issues that needed intervention. Firstly, there are some issues involving legal documents of prisoners allegedly being stopped from leaving the premises by jail authorities when they are transferred to court. The prison’s Superintendent also noticed the jail inmates’ concern regarding this issue.

Secondly, IBJ India noted a deep-rooted sense of anxiety amongst inmates about the law procedures where the lawyers appointed by the Legal Aid services are perceived to be ‘sarkari’ (government) lawyers. In prisoners’ perceptions, these lawyers collude with state authorities to make them punish more stringently. As Legal Aid services are ultimately government funded, inmates were interested to find out whether they are inclined towards working in favor of the government and against inmates’ interests. Prisoners were then properly informed about the structure of Legal Aid of Government of India, Delhi State Legal Services Authority and also about IBJ’s work in providing access to effective lawyers.

Pankhuri Mehndiratta, Advocate interacting with females in custody

The IBJ India team identified certain cases that required its intervention and has taken them up to be pursued by IBJ’s pro bono task force that actively works in trial courts. IBJ India continues to benefit from the support of the prison administration and strives to ensure the minimization of torture and prison overcrowding. The employed strategy here is early access to legal counsel and advocating the right to bail.

Question Answer Session

]]> http://www.ibj.org/2014/12/ibj-india-conducts-prevention-of-custodial-violence-workshop-in-west-bengal/ Wed, 03 Dec 2014 14:14:35 +0000 http://www.ibj.org/?p=12941 Pankhuri A. Mehndiratta
September 2014

Ms. Bijoya Chnada, advocate for IBJ Justicemakers, introducing the workshop to participants

On the 1st of June 2014, IBJ India organised a one day workshop dealing with the contentious issue of ‘Custodial Violence – its Prevention and Remedies‘ in the state of West Bengal. The workshop took place at the Indian Institute of Training and Development (IITD) in Joka, Kolkata and focused primarily on raising awareness and sensitising the various stakeholders of the criminal justice system in West Bengal. The various sessions held throughout the day sought out experts, social workers, direct functionaries and other key stakeholders in the correctional home system. It endeavoured to cull out a comprehensive reflection of the state of affairs prevailing within the confines of the correctional homes that abet torture. The sessions aimed to improve the competence of the prison administration and correctional home settings in West Bengal in the hope to see through the prevention of custodial torture.

The training sessions saw the appearance of stalwarts in the prison administration system such as Mr. Adhir Sharma, IPS (Additonal Director General of Prisons and Inspector General of West Bengal Correctional Services). Moreover, Prof. Sujao Bhadra made presentations to address the issues, prospects and challenges that are being confronted by the correctional services system in West Bengal.

Prof. Sujato Bhadra answering participants’ queries

The prisons of the eastern Indian state of West Bengal are currently governed by a very progressive legislation called the West Bengal Correctional Services Act, 1992. Enacted w.e.f 2000, the act seeks to impart human dignity, rights to a fair trial and the due process of law, entitlements to the access to justice and after care services to the prisoners. The act seeks to turn the aim of incarceration from being retributive to reformative. In doing so, it suggests education, sports and cultural activities as avenues to achieve such reformation.

However, the implementation of this progressive legislation is hindered by a few problems such as overcrowded prisons, which consists a large number of undertrial prisoners. Other issues include: the lack of legal awareness on part of the undertrials, indigence and lack of familial support. More specific to the correctional homes in West Bengal are the concerns around the high number of Bangladeshi nationals serving prison terms who are unable to be repatriated due to lack of documentation.

Another major problem is the lack of an effective after-release system consequently leading to a situation where prisoners who are convicted for life term offences are affected far more heavily by such incarceration in comparison to other prison inmates. This typically is the case as most life term prisoners leave the prison with scant savings, poor mental and physical health and almost no means to reintegrate themselves into the mainstream society due to a prolonged deprivation. They have no form of health or unemployment benefits and have a significantly lower chance of finding a permanent job due to the label of being a convict.

The workshop also delved deeper into other issues such as custodial torture and early access to counsel as an effective preventive strategy to impart dignity and integrity to those still in incarceration.

The workshop was able to bring to the forefront a diverse range of issues and further enlighten the prison authorities by building awareness, doing training and having discussions around the ways to deal with the challenges they face in a more effective and uniform manner.

Mr. Adhir Sharma, IPS -Additonal Director General of Prisons and Inspector General of West Bengal Correctional Services, interacting with the participants

29 October 2014

IBJ India Team at the Awareness Camp

On the 13^th of August 2014, a team of IBJ India lawyers visited Tihar Jail #7. The jail is part of Asia’s largest prison complex, housing young offenders who are in conflict with the law and are between the ages of 18 to 21 years.

The jail house as many as 862 adolescent inmates, most of whom are being tried for petty offences and awaiting their release on bail. An overwhelming number of detainees lack the basic awareness of whether or not their offence is bailable. This in turn leads to overcrowding in jails and detention centers all over the country.

Under the Indian Criminal and Procedural Laws, young offenders (between 18 to 21 years) are entitled to the same protection of law and access to fair trial as an adult offender. Section 167 of the Code of Criminal Procedure entitles inmates to a statutory bail in cases where no charge sheet has been filed against them by the police authorities. The statutory right to bail accrues within a period of 60 days upon certain administrative failures. This occurs in the failure of the police agency to file a charge sheet for an offense punishable for up to 10 years in prison, as well as when charge sheets fail to be filed for a case within 90 days, punishable with imprisonment for more than 10 years and up to life.

Young undertrial prisoners participating in the Awareness Camp

Though most of the inmates were between the ages of 18 to 21 years, there were still some who claimed to be under the age of 18 years and had a dearth of documents to prove their true age. The team of IBJ India lawyers consisting of IBJ India Fellow Mr. Ajay Verma, Mr. Ajay Raghav, Pankhuri A. Mehndiratta, along with advocates and interns, were able to identify a few inmates who were languishing in the prison without any legal representation due to reasons such as indigence and lack of legal awareness.

IBJ fellow Mr. Ajay Verma led an interactive legal awareness session on the topic of ‘The Rights of the Undertrial Prisoners’, ‘The Provisions of Bail,’ and ‘The Need to Ascertain the Age of the Detainees at the Time of Arrest.’ These sessions were conducted through the means of an age memo in order to rule out the possibility of juveniles being tried by the adult criminal justice system.

Ajay Verma, IBJ Legal Fellow, speaking with an inmate

The representatives of IBJ India were received warmly by the prison authorities and inmates alike, and saw a forthcoming response from the gathering of about 100-120 inmates who were eager to receive support in any manner possible.

Legal awareness camps and workshops such as this one go a long way in empowering the inmates through information and awareness about their legal rights. Such awareness raising activities also dissminate information regarding the course of the trial and the ideal course of interaction between individuals in the criminal justice system.

One of the Welfare Officers talking about the basic duties in his profession. 

Session one of the day was held by Mr. Ajay Verma. He introduced the methodology that IBJ india uses in capacity building of prison administration by conducting trainings and awareness events for prisoners as well as prison officials. The participants of the roundtable introduced themselves with name, jail number and years in the profession. Most of them had more than ten years of experience, but others were newly started. They shared general duties, challenges and experiences from the profession.

Mr. Ajay Verma initiated the roundtable by giving a brief introduction of International Bridges to Justice.

In 2002, 7 welfare officers were posted in Tihar Jail. On behalf of the Department of Social Welfare, their role is to provide basic facilities of all aspects to the prisoners. It was important for IBJ India to highlight how the welfare officers are the backbone of prison management. Prior to 2002, only custodial officials worked in the jail, with custodial and not welfare-related tasks. As pointed out by one of the welfare officers: ”If you want to move a vehicle, you need a person to drive. First then it will move. In the same way you can not imagine welfare activities without welfare officers in the prison.”

The session continued with the welfare officers talking about their specific duties. ”Our first duty is to counsel newly admitted prisoners on their very first day in prison”, one of the officers said. He pointed out that the inmate typically is depressed and unaware of his rights. ”We interact, counsel and help him to adjust to the prison”. He also explained how the welfare officers try to enable the inmates to demand their rights by providing information on legal aid, rights and procedures. They are doing a wonderful job with constantly providing information about legal concerns. Ultimately, the welfare officers are changing the life of the inmates.

At the same time, there is always a gap between theory and practice. IBJ India wanted to identify challenges the officers face in their everyday life, and spent some time discussing this. As expected, a main problem is limited access to resources. One of the officers kindly pointed out that when the number of inmates in a jail is more than a thousand, it is impossible for one person to go to each and every corner of the wards. This is very frustrating for the officers as they have a big responsibility on their shoulders but they are unable to fulfill their tasks.

The lack of resources is closely related to overcrowding. A huge number of undertrial detainees is costing the management a lot of problems when the facilities ment to be used by a thousand people is being used by twice as many. The challenge with overcrowding is one of the reasons why effective legal aid and effective and speedy trials, especially to pretrial detainees is urgently needed.

The discussion on lack of resources led the officers to talk about what solutions they use to cope with the problem. For example, they will bring a chair and a mic to one of the wards, gather all the inmates and conduct an awareness session. Instead of simply talking about legal matters, many of them do Question-and Answer-sessions. They answer any question the inmate may have about their case in specific or about legal rights in general. Another thing launched in the prison is related to preventing self-incrimination, by using volunteer prisoners to report about the inmates. For example, if someone is depressed or suicidal, the volunteer prisoner will share this with the welfare officer, which will make the necessary measures for the person, like giving them counseling or admitting them to a psychiatric hospital. A part of the supervision system is also to deploy senior convicts in the new-comer wards, and act as they would in villages, where elders will interact with and advice youngsters.

One of the main issues IBJ India wanted to discuss was the perception of jail. We asked the crowd: What do you think the role of a welfare officer is? Is the prison only for custodial purposes or should it also have a reformative function? Everybody agreed that jail is supposed to function like a hospital. The purpose behind a sentence is to cure the convict from the reasons or diseases that made him commit the crime. At the time of release the prisoner should be equipped to be a law obeying person of society. The welfare officers also discussed a main problem in the way jail is perceived. Generally, the custodial officers do not share the conception of prison as reformative, but primarily as a place to do your time and be punished for your crimes. To be a welfare officer the minimum requirement is a Master’s Degree in Social Work, while on the other hand, the custodial officers generally do not have higher education. There is a need to bridge the gap between the officers’ ideas of the functions of jail, and IBJ India will plan a roundtable for this purpose.

The last session before lunch was spent on talking about the general lack of legal awareness in India. People are not aware of their rights, especially in village societies and in poor communities. In the prison, the welfare officers are the pillars of interaction and enlightenment, and it is hard to underestimate their role when the inmates don’t even know that there is free legal aid available in the prison premises. Relating the discussion to Juveniles issues, Mr. Ajay Verma gave an example from a legal awareness event in 2011. It was held in Tihar Jail number 7, and the attendants were 18-21 years old inmates. After a session on the Juveniles Act (2000), 50 people came up to the IBJ India Team and said that it was likely that they were minors on the date of incident. With the support of the prison administration IBJ India interviewed and identified 25 possible juveniles, and on the basis of this and with supportive documents, went to the High Court. 23 of the 25 turned out to be juveniles.

In the afterlunch session, the main topic was communication and interpersonal skills. Which skills should a welfare officer possess? What can be done to enable the prisoners’ skills? Mr. Ajay Verma initiated the session by sharing an example of an autowalla who did a crime to get 500 rupies. In jail, he was taught skills that enabled him to earn 1000 rupies a day, thus the motive for the crime was erased. This example demonstrates how reformative jailactivities are real life-changers for the inmates. The welfare officers laughed and shared how inmates coming as bathroom singers return to society as stagesingers, that can take 15-20000 rupees in a wedding performance.

Regarding skills of a welfare officer, the participants pointed out two main points. Firstly, you need to have bigger ears and nose than that of your mouth, as one of the officers phrased it. Basically, the role is to listen to the inmate. ”Listening will solve 25-30 percent of their problems, because a lot of things are filled up in their mind and they might not have anyone to speak to”, he said.

Secondly, the officer has to communicate who he is in a clear and understable way so that the inmate does not compare him to a policeman or a judge. The inmate should know that a welfare officer is separate from police authorities. The welfare officers’ role is to be there for the inmates’ psychological and reformative support and counsel. It is important to communicate to them that the officers will not for example witness against them if they share details about their crime. This trust and understanding about the relationship between an inmate and a welfare officer is also necessary in order to identify the factors that made the person commit the crime.

Mr. Ajay Verma then introduced some basic legal aspects of legal representation and emphasized the importance of it being effective, the goal of enforcing the right to a fair trial, and IBJ India’s strategy of direct interaction with different parts of the criminal justice system. The welfare officers talked about how things have changed since they were employed. The conception of jail is slowly changing for the better- from custodial to correctional- but lack of education and training of the custodial officers is still a big challenge.

The last hour was spent discussing juveniles, bail and parole. In general, new-comers are not familiar with Section 436, 436A and other important provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code. Section 436, which states that in bailable offences, if a person is not furnishing surety then he is supposed to be released on personal bond. Also, Mr. Sunil Gupta, Principal Law officer of Delhi Prisons, answered a couple of questions and shared important aspects of prison administration.

IBJ India is looking forward to continue the great relationship with Tihar Jail and to do an effort in bridging the gap between the custodial- and welfareofficers by conducting a second roundtable. Whenever we go in the wards to do legal awareness events for the inmates, we will make sure to also inform about the welfare officers and their role and duties.

Groupphoto with the Prison Welfare Officers and IBJ India’s Team. In the middle: Mr. Sunil Gupta, Principal Law Officer of Delhi Prisons, and Mr. Ajay Verma, Advocate, Senior Fellow IBJ. From the right: IBJ Duty Lawyers Mr. Shiv Kumar Dwivedi and Mr. Ashwani Kumar Bali

From left: Mr. Shiv Kumar Dwivedi, Duty Lawyer IBJ India. In the middle: Mr Ashwani Kumar Bali, Duty Lawyer, and  Mr. Ajay Verma, Advocate and Senior Fellow IBJ.

The awareness workshop was held in the New-Comers Ward of Tihar Jail no. 8 and 9, and followed by an interactive session where Mr. Verma and the lawyers answered questions and shared basic legal knowledge with the prisoners. The New-Comers Ward was chosen because most of the time new inmates don’t know anything about legal aid and procedures.

More than 300 new-comers had gathered to attend the awareness workshop.

Communication with the judge was one of the first issues to be discussed. Many inmates told us that when they are produced before a magistrate, they will stand in the back of the room and not be allowed to talk to or address the presiding judge. The inmates are frustrated because they want to share their versions and details of the crime, or maybe they want to put before the judge that they have been falsely implicated.

Mr. Ajay Verma told the inmates that they have to talk to the judge and say whatever they want about their case. If the accused talks, the judge will listen to him. He adviced the inmates to go to the legal aid centre in their jail and write what they want to tell the judge in a paper, which they will give to the judge in court. Besides this it was also suggested that as the courts are considered temples of justice, the inmates needs to be polite and courtious to the sitting judge.

Some time was spent on informing the inmates about the necessity to give any defence evidence they have in their case. The inmates felt it was not fair that the prosecution was giving evidence against them, because they simply did not know their right to do the same. They were also informed about the right to be present during all stages of trial, and that they, at any point, may object or correct information if they feel that it is incorrect, in consultation with their lawyer. The accused can always listen to the answers of the witnesses in their case, and immediately inform their counsel anything about the same. Mr. Verma stressed that they need to have effective commuication with their counsel to effectively defend their case.

Mr. Ajay Verma, Advocate and Senior Fellow IBJ, Mr. Ashwani Kumar Bali, Duty Lawyer IBJ India, and Mr. Shiv Kumar Dwivedi, Duty Lawyer IBJ India.

Another issue raised by the inmates was that of chargesheets not being filed. The IBJ India Team informed them about the right to bail in non-bailable offences, as stated in Section 437 in the Criminal Procedure Code (Cr.P.C). In non-bailable offences it is on the discretion of the Court to grant bail. But if the police don’t produce the chargesheet within a given amount of time, the accused may request to be released on bail as a matter of right under Section 167 of the Cr.P.C., provided that they are willing to furnish surety. If the sentence of the crime is less than ten years, and the chargesheet has not been filed, the accused is entitled to bail after 60 days of his arrest. In offences punishable above ten years, life imprisonment or capital punishment, the same goes after 90 days. The inmate can go to the legal aid cell in his jail, and write an application stating that it has been 60  or 90 days and that the police has not filed the chargesheet. In these cases, the inmate will usually be granted bail.

Interaction with the inmates. 

In addition, the lawyers answered questions regarding plea bargaining, as introduced  by the Criminal Law Amendment Act in 2005. Plea bargaining is an agreement between the prosecutor and the accused where the accused will get some sort of concession in exchange of pleading guilty to all or some of the charges against him. Any offender can plead guilty provided that the maximum sentence for the crime is less than seven years, and that the crime was not committed against women or children.

Usually, the inmates will think that plea bargaining is acquittal of the charges, when it actually is a conviction with confession. In the session, IBJ India shed light on all sides of plea bargaining. If the accused pleads guilty, he will be registered as a convicted person. Among other things, he will not be able to get a government job. Also, if he is arrested a second time the judge will consider him a habitual offender and, because of this give a harsher punishment. Therefore, it is very important to inform the inmates about all the aspects of plea bargaining.

One of the new-comers talking to Mr. Ajay Verma.

As expected, many of the new-comers that we met in the New-Comers Ward were accused of petty offences. One of the inmates had been arrested for electricity theft, and was languishing because of lack of legal representation. IBJ India’s Duty Lawyer Mr. Ashwani Kumar Bali took his case and will be filing an appropriate bail application. The lack of knowledge of the right to bail in bailable offences, as prescribed in Section 436 in Cr.P.C is the reason why inmates remain in jail for at least 15-30 days when they are not able to furnish surety. The inmates were also informed about the legal aid centre in their cell and how they can go there to get legal assistance free of cost. They were requested to report to the Superintendent of the Jail whenever any legal aid advocate asks for money.

In the last part of the session, the inmates came up to the IBJ India Team and asked for advice about their cases, showing their chargesheets, and the like. The team also identified a few people without legal representation, and Mr. Ashwani Kumar Bali, Duty Lawyer IBJ India, visiting Jail No. 8 and 9, agreed to take their cases.

IBJ India will continue with awareness events as long as the need is there. We are grateful for the good cooperation with the prison authorities and their help in providing easy access to justice for the inmates. We are looking forward to the conduction of future events.

The main goal was to help legal aid lawyers to find solutions to unnecessary and long detentions in police and judicial custody of undertrial people. The course attempts to «… refine courtroom practices towards reaching the high goal of rule of law». The focus was on impacts of incarceration on the prisoner, by discussing and lecturing on due process treatment, strengthening legal aid services, and effective legal interventions by advocates. With the Indian Criminal Procedure Code (Cr.P.C.) as its starting point, the course aimed to increase the lawyers’ procedural knowledge on fair trial, minimizing pre-trial detention, and other crucial parts of legal administration.

Some of the female lawyers discussing.

The welcome address was held by Secretary in DLSA, Mr. Tan Singh Charan. Thereafter, Ms. Sana Das, Coordinator in CHRI, read out a message from Hon’ble Justice Ajay Rastogi, Chairperson of Rajasthan State Legal Services Authority (RSLSA), which was also part of the reading material handed out to the participants. Mr. Tan Singh Charan then started the first session of the workshop by talking about the importance of providing the accused with a legal aid lawyer. He was followed by Hon’ble Justice Mr Govind Mathur, Judge Rajasthan High Court & Chairman of Rajasthan High Court Legal Services Committee, who emphasized more about various methodology to improve court and legal aid practices to prevent unnecessary detention. Among other things he referred to the Cr.P.C. section 437, which states in what situations bail may be taken in case of non-bailable offenses, and section 49 and 50, which states that (”The arrested person shall not be subjected to more restraint than is necessary to prevent his escape” and that a “person arrested (is) to be informed of grounds of arrest and of right to bail”.

One of the speakers was Hon’ble Mr. Justice Gobind Mathur, Judge Rajasthan High Court.

Mr. R. K. Saxena, former Inspector General, Rajasthan Prisons and Honorary Consultant with CHRI also contributed to the session, who talked about alternatives to imprisonment in bailable and non-bailable offenses. The participants questions and comments were effectively answered and heard. Mr. Saxena also pointed out how the inequality before law contradicts with the ideal of equality before the law, and referred to undersection 39A in the Indian Constitution, which deals with equal justice and free legal aid. It claims that:

”The State shall secure that the operation of the legal system promotes justice, on a basis of equal opportunity, and shall, in particular, provide free legal aid, by suitable legislation or schemes or in any other way, to ensure that opportunities for securing justice are not denied to any citizen by reason of economic or other disabilities.”

Mr. R.K. Saxena sharing his knowledge and experience.

The day continued with an introduction of the training by Mr. Ajay Verma, Advocate  representing IBJ India. He talked about general issues lawyers are facing, and screened a movie from the client-lawyer role play held in Jodhpur Central Jail 04th-06th October. This was followed by an active and fruitful discussion from both sides on issues regarding client-lawyer relationship, speedy trial and pre-trial justice.

Day 2 of the workshop begun with all of the lawyers introduced themselves, their name, where they are practicing and for how many years they have been practicing. Ajay Verma held a session on illegalities in the criminal justice system and also focused on prisoners’ rights. Thereafter, an interactive game was played,  led by Ms. Abha Joshi, Advocate and Ms. Sugandha Shankar, CHRI. The lawyers were asked about which problems they themselves had been facing in prison. The last session of the day was led by Ms. Abha Joshi, and followed by a panel discussion on arrest, and especially section 41 in the Cr.P.C. which states when the police may arrest without warrant.

Teamwork

On the third and last day of the workshop, the first session was led by Ms. Abha Joshi on the topic of arrest, bail and remand, bailable offenses and cognizable and non-cognizable offenses, supplemented with Ajay Verma and the rest of the panels contributions and points. In her presentation, Ms. Abha Joshi focused on sections 167 Cr.P.C., “Procedure when investigation cannot be completed in twenty four hours”, Section 70,  which deals with forms of warrants of arrest and duration, section 41, regarding arrest of persons, and sections 43, 44, and 55, regarding procedures of arrest. In the following session the game «my favourite lawyer, my favourite client» was played. Then, some time was spent on discussing legal aid solutions, for example legal aid developments and ethics of the advocates profession.

Answering questions, from left to right: Mr. Ajay Verma, Mr. Bora, Mr. Tan Singh, Mr. R.K. Saxena.

Overall the training was successful, and the participants expressed satisfaction over the panel and the topics in focus. They also requested more senior lawyers to speak in future events, a feedback we appreciate and will follow up. It is important to underline the importance of these kind of programs as legal aid is an important part of the administration of justice, and we are looking forward to more fruitful lawyer trainings in the near future.