P Chidambaram – Former Union Finance Minister:

According to NCRB data, 76% of all prisoners are under trials

Of the under trials, 27% are illiterate, 41% had dropped out before Class X

What does this mean? That most under trial prisoners are poor and most likely from among the oppressed classes

The legal system is so distorted that only the poor languish in jail without a trial and without bail

In J&K, the proportion of under trials is 91%. I am certain most of them are in prison on charges — yet unproved — of instigating or indulging in violence

Let’s see if the latest SC order will bring relief to these poor, hapless prisoners