Video-link accelerates clearance of cases

PUNE: The decision to videolink Yerwada jail with the city court has helped clear a number of cases, 67 to be exact, over the last one month.
Before the system was introduced on December 20, 2003, there were 567 cases, including 325 wherein confessions had been recorded, with the court. This is the first time that such a system has been introduced in the state.
According to sources, video-conferencing could not have come at a better time, as it was becoming difficult to transport an increasing number of undertrials to the court room and back for hearings.
So many undertrials would crowd the court room and cause a lot of commotion and confusion there, which in turn would delay their cases. Also, there was always the threat of some undertrials trying to escape, the source added.
“Encouraged by the good results, the court has also started recording statements through video-conferencing,� court sources said, adding that there were plans to conduct trials through video-conferencing.
There are around 3,000 undertrials, arrested for petty offences, at the Yerwada jail. Incidentally, the maximum number of cases were cleared on the very first day of the video-conference, indicating the need for such a system.