In a yr, virtual court hearings jump from 16-80% for Bhondsi inmates

Gurgaon: In January last year, only 16% — 593 out of 3,519 — undertrials in the Bhondsi jail appeared for court hearings via videoconferencing. The majority (2,926) were physically brought to court. By the end of the year, however, the number increased to 80%, with 2,893 undertrials attending virtual legal proceedings. Only 665 were physically produced in court.
In contrast, just a handful of undertrials had online court hearings in 2022.
According to police, they have stepped up digitalisation of court proceedings as it has cut down on undertrial movement, thereby reducing risk of attacks or escapes.
“A lot of manpower is required for escorting undertrials, especially when it comes to notorious criminals. A videoconference doesn’t require a police escort, saving lakhs of rupees. The system also limits the interaction of inmates with outsiders who might help them by smuggling in liquor or drugs. It also reduces chances of people escaping from police custody,” DCP (headquarters) Deepak Gehlawat said.
“Sometimes, we’ve noticed that the accused are brought to court just to schedule the next hearing. Many courts now conduct trials via videoconferencing. We have plans to expand this system even more,” said Suneel Sangwan, superintendent of Bhondsi jail.
Recently, the Bombay high court emphasised on the use of videoconferencing for bringing undertrial prisoners to court, which saves time, money and resources. Gurgaon police, in collaboration with the district court, is set to integrate all police stations to enable videoconferencing and further cut down on the movement of officers.
Screens and microphones will be set up at each police station, and a designated link will allow officers to participate in legal proceedings from their respective stations, officers said.
Several incidents of undertrials being attacked or escaping while coming to court for hearings have been reported in the past.
On March 22, 2017, a former sarpanch facing trial for murder was shot dead outside the Jhajjar court complex while he was being brought for a hearing by a police team.
A few days later, on March 29, 2017, two men dressed in women’s clothes fired at history-sheeter Ramesh Lohar when he was coming out of a court in Rohtak after attending a hearing. One person was killed and seven were injured.