Wrongful Incarceration And Conviction: An Act Of Criminalization In India

Asma Shuaib, B.A.LL.B (Hons.), Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi

ABSTRACT

One of the pertinent issues today regarding the criminal justice system in India is the increased rate ofwrongful incarcerations and convictions. The number of undertrials and exonerees is ever increasing, compared to any other time in history. According to the data from National Crime Records Bureau 2021, more than three-fourths of India's jail inmates are undertrial prisoners. Of the 554,034 prisoners, 427,165, or 77 percent, were undertrials in 2021. This was a 14.9 percent increase from 371,848 undertrials in prison in 2020. It also reveals that for every ten prisoners in India, only two have been convicted of a crime, and among those awaiting trial, a disproportionate share come from marginalized communities. Our criminal justice system has been tremendously failing to meet its obligation of protecting the rights of people without discrimination and upholding the rule of law. Wrongful prosecution, incarceration, and conviction of innocents from the weaker sections of society is indeed a grave miscarriage of justice from the justice system in itself. The prison reports in India reveal that among the undertrials, about 73% consist of Dalits, tribals, and Other Backward Classes, and 20% Muslims. Falsely subjecting the innocents from marginalized groups to being undertrial prisoners, convicts, and exonerees is part of an act of targeted criminalization, which is against the settled principle of criminal law that an accused is presumed to be innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. This paper attempts to critically analyse the practice of wrongful incarcerations and convictions in India, with the case studies of undertrial prisoners and exonerees. It studies in detail the fact that the majority of victims of such wrongful convictions are from the marginalized sections of society and how this provides to the act of criminalization of the lower castes and vulnerable communities. The paper also analyses the international scenarios and the lack of a statutory framework for compensation in India. The need for a compensatory mechanism for wrongful incarcerations and convictions is demonstrated throughout the paper. It also outlines different ways for systematic reforms in the justice system to curb the increasing wrongful prosecution and criminalization of the backward communities in India.

Keywords: Wrongful incarceration, conviction, criminalization, marginalized, criminal justice system.