UP govt to start prisoners’ trial via video conferencing

The Yogi Government has recently prepared to begin trial through video conferencing of such prisoners in jails, who have not appeared before the court for more than a year. A proposal regarding this has been presented by the Department of Prison Administration & Reforms before the chief secretary.
After the approval of the Chief Minister on this proposal, it will be implemented.
Notably, there are many such prisoners in the jails of the state, who aren’t being summoned for an appearance by the court due to transfer, or conviction. Therefore, the department has recommended running their trials through video conferencing.
According to the figures presented by the department, a total of 232 prisoners are lodged in various jails of the state, who haven’t appeared before the court for one year or more. These include 16 prisoners from Ayodhya Zone, 55 from Lucknow, 8 from Kanpur, 10 from Varanasi, 5 from Prayagraj, 41 from Meerut, 24 from Gorakhpur, 28 from Bareilly, and 45 from Agra Zone.
The department stated that due to the transfer of these prisoners from one jail to another, the Hon’ble Court hasn’t called them for an appearance for more than one year, leading to the hearing of their cases getting obstructed.
Therefore, in such a situation, on the initiative of the government, the hearing of their stalled cases can be resumed through trial through video conferencing. Bail can be obtained from police stations. Apart from this, the Department of Prison Administration and Reforms has also recommended such prisoners sentenced from 3 months to 7 years by the court should be given bail from the police stations.