Author name: IBJ India

There were around 150 inmates present for legal rights awareness at Ward no.2 of Rohini Jail on 7thJuly2012. The basic intention of this visit was to make the inmates acquainted with the provisions of Bail and Plea Bargaining under CrPc. The team of IBJ India comprised of Mr. Ajay Verma, Ms. Ratika Mehrotra, Mina Gibi, Raja Bagga and Tushar Mandal. During the awareness drive, the Superintendent of Rohini Jail as well as several Inspectors were also present. As is the norm, the session started by informing the inmates about their various rights, principles of fair trial, etc., and moved on to a discussion wherein we focused on their various concerns. Mr. Verma enquired if the inmates present had legal representation. There were few who did not, and they were urged to consult the legal aid counsel provided inside jail or to contact Ratika Mehrotra a volunteer lawyer from IBJ India. However he made it clear that they should not take up legal aid lawyers if they already are represented by a private lawyer. A common concern which most inmates face were that though they had been granted bail they could not take aid of the same due to lack of surety. Most of them did not have family or any identity proof. IBJ took recognition of the same and asked for a list of undertrial who were given bail but could not avail. One inmate enquired whether one should communicate with the Magistrate when presented for the first time, especially when the inmate believes that the record shows incorrect information. Mr. Verma emphasized that the accused should make all efforts to communicate the same and if that does not work, write a letter to the magistrate. The inmates joined in and raised a common concern that they are usually not heard by the magistrate if they complain that they were picked up from the wrong place and thus there needs to be a mandatory provisions regarding the same. Mr. Verma insisted that in the current provision the accused should make an effort to bring the alleged implication on record. Few inmates raised queries and explained facts of their cases which reflected that they should be given bail and only on further probing did they reveal that they had more than ten matters against them. Team in Discussion with Inmates Thus it was necessary to explain the basic concept of bail. While talking about bail, special reference was made to Sec 167(2) and 436A of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Sec 436A makes bail a statutory right when half the period of maximum sentence has passed and the trial is still going on, Section 167(2) provides bail to the accused when charge sheet has not been filed within the prescribed time period.  After discussing bail as a statutory right in some cases, we moved on to bail on discretion. Mr. Verma explained the concept of bail and emphasized the mitigating and aggravating factors which the court considers while granting bail.  He also stressed on the importance of client lawyer interaction.  It was explained that unless the lawyer does not discuss the case with the client it is difficult to get bail, as important information is sometimes missed. The team also heard another inmate who had not received any response for 2 months for reduction of bail amount and we asked the legal aid counsel to look in to the matter. One of the issues faced by few inmates regarding legal aid lawyers taking payment from the inmates was also discussed in details. As it is a grave and serious concern, the team made them aware that they are not to pay the legal aid lawyers as they are already paid by the legal aid authority for representing them, and getting effective legal representation is their fundamental right. Jail Superintendent also advised the inmates that it is exploitation and extortion of the system of legal aid, and they should refrain from giving into the demands of the legal aid lawyers regarding payment for representing their cases. The session was highly interactive as it involved participation from the inmates, especially as they wanted insight into their cases. The success of the drive was apparent as we were not only well received by all present, but were asked to come again, so some more inmates could benefit from such session. IBJ India Team with the Prison Authorities

On 20 June 2012, IBJ India’s Duty Lawyer team conducted an interactive session with the inmates of Tihar, of Jail no.4 in New Delhi. IBJ was represented by Mr. Ajay Verma, Mr. Ajay Raghav, Ms. Pallavi Saxena, three interns and a volunteer photographer. IBJ lawyers carried out this important task of raising awareness among the prisoners and to provide them information on the day’s topic: plea bargaining and bail. The session began with Mr. Ajay Verma discussing about plea bargaining, as their right for a speedy trial followed by an interactive discussion with inmates. There were about 300 prisoners who had gathered for the session, some of their offences ranging from crimes like impersonating in exam to offences like abduction, forgery, and dowry and grievous hurt etc. As the IBJ mandate is to provide access to justice, we started with the most crucial question- Did the inmates have a lawyer to represent their case? As expected, we saw a sizeable number of hands being raised up. IBJ volunteer lawyer Ajay Raghav was willing to take up the cases of those who were unrepresented. With the quantum of undertrial population in India, especially in Tihar alarmingly high, the next obvious question was- How many inmates had applied for bail? Few of the inmates had not applied for it. Ajay Verma explained the provisions to those who were eligible for the same. The prisoners were also made aware of section 167(2) of the CrPC, the provision that if the police had failed to file charges within the stipulated time frame of 60/90 days from the date of arrest then, the accused had a right to file for statutory bail. Often, the inmates are unable to make use of this provision due to the mistake, ignorance of the lawyer and therefore a format on bail under Section 167(2) were distributed among the inmates, so that they can apply for statutory bail themselves. It also came into light as some of the prisoners claimed that their lawyers after taking money from them as fees did not showed up in their defenses.  Mr. Verma made it clear that if a lawyer takes money and does not show up then a client can report/complain to the bar council against them. During the session, two information pamphlets relating to the provisions of plea bargaining and bail explaining the provision and the procedures were distributed. The information pamphlets were in Hindi, the language understood by the majority of inmates so as to ensure accessibility of information. Mr. Sumit, a coordinator working for Tihar jail made a list of the inmates without legal representation; these cases will be represented by IBJ lawyer Mr. Ajay Raghav. Further there existed cases wherein some inmate’s bail applications were granted by the court but due to his incapacity to pay for surety are still detained in the prison. A separate list were made of these inmates for which IBJ India will try to find a solution by filing a petition in the Court for the same. The awareness drive held saw a lot of inmates who participated by discussing their problems with our lawyers and brought a successful end to this event. The inmates often feels neglected detained in the jail for years, so this kind of awareness drive is useful to make them believe that they are not alone, there are people thinking about them, caring for their rights. As is the mandate of IBJ to spread awareness of ones rights and provide legal assistance, we hope, that our endeavor to educate the prisoner about their rights would ensure strengthening of rule of law and ensure that humanity dignity is preserved behind bars.

In pursuance of IBJ’s mission in India, the Duty Lawyers Project team conducted an interactive session with the inmates of Rohini District Jail in New Delhi on February 10, 2012. IBJ was represented by Mr. Ajay Verma, and Ms. Pujya Pascal along with two volunteer advocates, Mr. Avinindar Singh and Ms. Karuna Nundy. While Mr. Singh specializes in criminal law, Ms. Nundy is a specialist in juvenile justice and the rights of children. The session began with a brief introduction of IBJ and its Duty Lawyers Project by Mr. Ajay Verma. He moderated the discussions that followed and briefly touched upon the topics for the day’s session – bail as a right, juvenile justice, case laws pertaining to bail, and the importance of client-lawyer interaction. There were about 350 undertrial prisoners who had gathered for the session. Most of them were first time offenders with detention periods ranging between 4 days to 11 months. The ones in detention for a longer period were accused of serious offences such as drug trafficking, dowry death and murder. Mr. Verma began by asking two very basic questions to the prisoners. He asked how many inmates did not have lawyers and how many had not applied for bail. About 20 prisoners said they did not have a lawyer, and about an equal number of inmates said they hadn’t filed for bail at the time. Those who had not filed for bail either did not know that they were eligible for bail or they did not have a lawyer who could file a bail application on their behalf. Mr. Verma emphasized on the right to bail in bailable and other petty offenses.  He also made it clear that if the police or the prosecution had failed to file charges within the stipulated time-frame (60-90 days from the date of arrest), then the accused had a right to file for bail. Upon hearing Mr. Verma’s presentation on right to bail, a few inmates began to inquire about the nature of their offences and their eligibility for bail. Among those present, there were also five foreign nationals (from Nigeria) for whom a separate question and answer session was conducted in English. Mr. Avinindar Singh alluded to a recent Supreme Court judgment on the right to bail and answered some of the questions related to bailable and non-bailable offences, fair trial and the court’s role in granting bail to the defendant. Ajay Verma steered the talk towards the efficacy of client-lawyer interaction and said that interaction is key to the success of any case. He laid the onus on the clients as much as the lawyers to ensure there’s a fair trial.

International Bridges to Justice (India) in collaboration with Delhi State Legal Service Authority conducted a three day training workshop on 2nd – 4th June 2012 at India Habitat Centre, Lodhi Road, New Delhi, for legal aid lawyers and jail visiting advocates. The first day began with the inauguration of the workshop by Hon’ble Mr. Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Judge, Delhi High Court & Chairman, Delhi High Court Legal Service Committee. He emphasized about the up-gradation of education, as fundamental principles remain the same but areas of social and economic offences have widened, and training for lawyers is very important as during such training programmes one gets to know about alternative criminal justice systems. He went on to compare the American and Indian legal systems. He was of the view that, in USA there is very strong defense prosecution since people have equal merits but in India, the upper class access the best defense. It is here that Legal Service Authorities play a role to strengthen the system. The role of lawyers is important because people in custody do not even know their Rights. Hon’ble Mr. Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul The first day of the training continued with introduction of the 102 Legal Aids Lawyers from all the nine Districts of Delhi, followed by introduction of Mr. Ajay Verma, Fellow IBJ India & Ms. Kellie Krake, Training Director Geneva IBJ & Miss Deja Vishny Public Defender Trainer Wisconsin Public Defenders Office, USA. It dealt with teachings given by Kellie and Deja on the role of lawyers. Kellie noted down that we are here to take you beyond the law to practice to make it work for your client. Deja took over and started discussing what should the lawyers do, she emphasized on the attitude of empathy v.  Warriors should be the attitude in every lawyer. According to her, as a public defender one should have passion and perseverance in order to get justice. IBJ Founder Karen Tse and Kellie Krake The day continued and the post lunch session articulated Client-Lawyer Interaction by Hon’ble Ms. Justice Gita Mittal Judge Delhi High Court & Mr. Ajay Verma. Justice Mittal stressed that access to justice is the most basic human right, client interaction is essential to get factual information to get the desired result and as a lawyer, it is our duty to respect our clients and dignity of individual. Ajay focused on the common problem being faced by clients is that they feel they are not being heard. He laid down the point that “poor should not get poor justice’. The closing session of the 1st day was taken by Kellie and Deja on Trial Strategy, and according to Deja one should focus on developing the theory of the case; theory should take into account all the positive points of the case so that it will be easier and faster in providing justice to the client. The Second day of the workshop began with a quick review of the previous day, and focused on Bail Provisions, Admissibility of Evidence obtained during Investigation and Evidence obtained during Trail and Assessing Evidence and Confession. In particular Hon’ble Mr. Justice R.C Chopra (Retd) Member, National Legal Service Authority associated with Legal Aid for 25yrs, gave some suggestions on Bail Provisions.  He advised against giving high and false hopes to their client. Hon’ble Mr. Justice J.R. Midha It was followed by Justice J.R Midha, Judge, Delhi High Court; He shared his views on the entire criminal justice system, and as per his view criminal system should focus more on providing justice to the accused, discovery of truth is the guiding principle for any trial. The session continued and Mr. K.K.Sud, Senior Advocate, took over, he spoke about crimes. According to him, petty crimes are being committed due to poverty and illiteracy among the people. He also recommended that for such workshops to be meaningful, they should include Judicial Officers, and also said that remuneration of the legal aids lawyers should be increased and one should study the difficulties faced by jail visiting advocates. He also emphasized that such workshops should serve as a platform for senior lawyers to help legal aid lawyers. The day ended with the session by Kellie and Deja on the topic of assessing evidence and confession. She focused on the point that confession is primarily obtained by torture, so we as a lawyer should fight against torture by police, she laid down some important points as to how a lawyer can fight against torture by police more effectively.  Mock trial was also part of the session, wherein lawyers were asked to cross-examine the Magistrate who took the statement of the accused. Lastly, Deja showcased the Chapter Method of cross-examination and highlighted the points that should be considered while cross-examining a witness. Mr. Sidharth Luthra, Senior Advocate The last day of the training program began at 10a.m by an address by Mr. Sidharth Luthra, Senior advocate & Member, Delhi State Legal Service Authority. He discussed about the provisions of Examination of Prosecution and Defense Witnesses and he referred to three kinds of examination i.e. examination in-chief, cross-examination, re-examination. He made us realize how lawyers can be a strong support to criminal justice system, and his enthusiasm and passion was reflected in his stories. After a short tea break, Hon’ble Justice Dr. S. Muralidhar, Judge Delhi High Court, a recognized face in the Legal Fraternity and Mr. Sushil Kumar, Senior Advocate took up the closing arguments of the defense. Mr. Sushil Kumar shared some of his personal experience with clients and participants felt that the information given by him was very good and will be very useful in future. Justice Muralidhar talked about various skills as to how a lawyer can communicate to the judge, a lawyer should not run away from the weakness of the case and difficulties of the closing arguments, preparation and conferencing with the client is very important before closing the arguments. Hon’ble Dr. Justice S. Muralidhar, Ms. Asha Menon, Mr. Sushil Kumar,

On Christmas Eve, IBJ India with complete support from Delhi Prisons visited Jail No. 7 of Tihar, which houses prisoners between the age group of 18-21, and decided to bring in the gift of Knowledge and Legal Representation. The group comprised of Ajay Verma, IBJ India Fellow; Rajesh Mahajan, Advocate, Additional Standing Counsel of Delhi Police before Delhi High Court, Jitendra Ratta, Volunteer Lawyer working with IBJ; Aditya Kumar, Advocate volunteering with IBJ; Pallavi Saxena, Advocate interning with IBJ. The intention behind the visit was to have an interactive session with the young prisoners and to create awareness about their rights. The group of prisoners present for the session were all mostly aged 18 years, or as many stated even 17 years. The Superintendent of the Jail told the group about the purpose of the visit, and then the session began with introduction of the group members. As the purpose of the visit was to create awareness about The Juvenile Justice (Care & Protection) Act, along with its basic provisions, it was introduced to them, and they were repeatedly told that they were all entitled to a Free legal aid, if unable to afford legal representation. As the discussion progressed, many spoke about the grievances that they have, such as one prisoner stated that even though he had put in a request to the court, no lawyer has been provided to him. It was understood from this discussion, that many in this group are illiterate, and thus completely unaware as to the specifics of their case. Further, some 20 prisoners stated that they were below the age of 18 years, and without any legal representation. Thus it was decided to deal with the prisoners on one-on-one, and gather information about their cases, so corrective action can be taken. As there were 5 members of the group that were present, each spoke to the prisoners individually and details about their case was gathered. Around 40 cases have been taken up by IBJ India, wherein 50% of the prisoners have stated that they are below 18 years of age. Many instances were revealed wherein the ‘system’ has faltered, one specific instance is that of one deaf and dumb prisoner, who has been in the prison for the past 8 months. As there was no way to understand him, a phone call was made to his brother whose number was written on his forearm. The prisoner, according to this brother, is 17 years of age, but no notice has been taken of this fact. Thus, it is IBJ’s endeavor to provide legal representation to all these cases, and to take corrective action for the children stating their age to be less than 18 years on a priority basis. The visit was a small effort in understanding the plight of the children who are on the brink of the adulthood, yet not completely there. Lastly, the visit was scheduled for the Christmas Eve, so as to provide a positive outlook to the children, and cakes were distributed to the children to spread the Christmas Cheer! Needless to say but this is one of the positive initiatives of Prison Administration to work with the NGOs to make the prisoners aware about their rights.

The morning of Saturday, the 5th of November, 2011, was when the above-mentioned booklet was launched in Jail Number 4 of the Tihar Jail Complex, in the august presence of Hon’ble Mr. Justice A.K. Sikri, Acting Chief Justice, Delhi High Court, Hon’ble Ms. Justice Mukta Gupta, Judge, Delhi High Court, Mr. Neeraj Kumar, Director General, Prisons. The initiative was a result of the collaboration of  International Bridges to Justice (IBJ), India and Delhi Prisons. IBJ was represented by its Indian Fellow, Mr. Ajay Verma. The event commenced with the opening ceremony at the Mini-Stadium of Jail Number 4, with the lighting of the ceremonial lamp and an ode to the Indian Goddess of Knowledge, through Sarasvati Vandana, which was beautifully sung by a team of convicts. Thereafter, the welcome address was delivered by Mr. Neeraj Kumar, DG(P). He outlined for the dignitaries and the audience, the various initiatives undertaken by the prison authorities to ameliorate the condition of the inmates, as well as to empower them by providing them with the tools and skills they would require to make their lives outside of prison productive and gainful. Noteworthy among these initiatives were, the literacy campaign launched this year, entitled, “Padho aur Padhao”, provision of music rooms in every Ward of the prison, in collaboration with an N.G.O that provides the authorities with music teachers. The literacy campaign has been a resounding success, drastically increasing the literacy rate among inmates, which is now pegged at 80%! With such dramatic improvement, and continuous efforts, Tihar Jail may just acquire the distinction of being the first Central Jail in the country to have a cent-percent literacy rate. Another initiative that must find mention was the Placement Drive, held by the jail authorities, in order to find the inmates, who have completed their terms, appropriate employment. The DG(P) mentioned that the drive was a success, and that buoyed by it, they intend to hold the third installment of the drive in mid-November. He also mentioned, that, the prison authorities have sent a proposal to the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi, to establish semi-open prisons, whereby the inmates may be permitted to leave the jail premises during the day, and find employment outside, and return at a designated time in the evening. The booklet itself covers important topics, such as, the food that should be served, clothes that should be provided, visitation rights, health check-ups, compilation of prohibited items, information pertaining to education, financial assistance and lastly, legal aid. The legal aid information includes details of bail, parole, furlough and release. Hon’ble Mr. Justice A.K. Sikri, in his address, compared a jail sentence to Lord Ram’s vanvas (exile), and said that the prison term can be constructively utilized by the inmates to reform themselves. He struck an emotional chord with prisoners, when he mentioned that many of them might feel that they have been wrongly imprisoned, or that they have not committed a crime, or have been given a sentence that they feel is disproportionate to their crime; he advised them to treat it as their kismet, and to move forward and not become bitter individuals, and that they should take every opportunity that is available to them, and come out stronger and better individuals. He lavished praise on the jail authorities for the commendable job that they were doing in the upkeep of the prison and their laudable initiatives. He ended on a practical note, highlighting the need to start a practice of issuing a character certificate to the inmates, in order to help them in finding gainful employment once their terms end. Lastly, paintings made by the prisoners were gifted to the Dignitaries. The ceremony concluded by the delivery of the Vote of Thanks by the DIG(Prisons), and was followed by High Tea.

A unique training was organized by IBJ with CHRI on 7th-9th October’2011, to train convicts as paralegals, with a special focus on pre-trial detention and speedy trial, so they may at some point pass on the benefit of this information to undertrials as well. This training was attended by 33 convicts from all the 8 district jails in Rajasthan, and was planned with an intention to provide knowledge to the convicts on various procedures such as parole, furlough and to teach them the way to write a bail application. Most of these convicts were graduates, some even post-graduates, and were serving term for either 10 years or for life. The interesting aspect of this training was that it not only gave insightful information to the prisoners but a proposal was also put up wherein attendance for 3 days in the workshop gives the prisoners remission for 60 days in their sentence. This proposal has been forwarded, and is pending approval. The workshop began with a formal introduction of all involved, the trainers, coordinators as well as the participants. With introductions out of the way, the discussion began with how the prisoners perceive the concept of law, and the answer that stood out was that it’s all a ‘khilwad’ (a joke). Another aspect that was covered before venturing into the field of nitty-gritty of law was the relationship they shared with their lawyers. This activity was carried out through a quawali session, wherein, the prisoners were divided in 2 groups as clients and lawyers and were asked to give voice to their grievances. The most common complaint that was given was that no lawyer wishes to hear their side of the story and most interaction they have had was with the ‘munshiji’ (Lawyers’ assistants) and not the lawyers themselves. Also, even though these lawyers were private counsels and not the legal aid lawyers, everyone felt that their case was not being given due importance and maybe even felt cheated. Thus, this information was stored away to be used in other workshops for the lawyers so as to tell them the client’s side of the story. At one point, Mr O.R. Rohin, Superintendent of Jaipur District Jail, also came in and discussed the difficulties that are encountered by the prisoners. Once the groundwork was established, it was time to move on to the basic purpose of the workshop, as they were informed about the concept of bail, and the difference between bailable and non-bailable offence. As the participants also asked about the concept of parole and furlough, the same was also explained to them at length. The second day of the workshop dealt with life in prison and for this purpose, the prisoners were asked to fill a questionnaire, and a copy of which was also given to the Assistant Jailor. One of the shocking aspects that was revealed by the prisoners was that the practice of handcuffing the prisoners is still prevalent despite various judgments by the Supreme Courts prohibiting this practice. One of the prisoners shared his experience, wherein two prisoners had health problems and they were handcuffed and the feet were tied together, and were kept on the same hospital bed. When one of the trainers referred to the case of Prem Shakar Shukla v. Delhi Administration, one of the prisoners mentioned that he has read the case, but sadly enough the ratio is still not followed. The day ended on a lighter note, with participants asked to prepare a skit on the topics provided to them, such as groupism, caste system, religious intolerance; and the same was judged by declaring prisoners from Alwar Jail as winners. The last day of the workshop began with recapitulation of previous days’ events, and then moving on to the provisions of bail once again. The method of counting days of remand, whether 60 or 90 was explained to them, and they were also informed that if the chargesheet is not filed within the specified time period, they have a right to bail. Other relevant provisions of Code of Criminal Procedure were discussed along with Parole. It was explained there are two types of Parole – Regular and Emergency, and the same are laid out in Prison Rules. They were also informed about the way to draft a bail application and a RTI application. Lastly, various acts that are considered offences in jails were explained and the punishment for the same were also told to them. The day concluded by giving participation certificates to the prisoners, and the same was handed by the Sunail Kumar Malhotra, Additional Director General (Prisons), Rajasthan. Mr. Malhotra also provided Criminal Manuals for every prison. The team members were given Bhagwad Gita as a mark of appreciation, and lastly the prisoners presented the team members with letters expressing their gratitude for the workshop. This workshop, though started with few hiccups, ended on a successful note, thus emphasizing the need to conduct more workshops of such nature in the future. IBJ also intends to get in touch with the authorities to see if the suggestions have been carried out by them.

International Bridges to Justice (IBJ) in collaboration with Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) organized a two day workshop on August 20-21’2011 at Hotel Mapple Abhay, Jodhpur. The focus of the workshop was to provide an opportunity to the lawyers working in a trial courts at Jodhpur to enhance and develop their skills, so as to give effective representation to the accused. A group of 45 lawyers from Jodhpur as well as Six Lawyers from Alwar were present to seep the benefits of the workshop. The event was kick started by a Welcome Note by Ms. Susheel, Volunteer with CHRI, which was followed by elucidating the rules of the workshop, and lastly, a game with an intention to break the ice. First Session of the workshop dealt with Rights and Problems of the Accused behind Bars, and was chaired by Mr. R. K. Saxena, Former Inspector General, Rajasthan Prisons and Honorary Consultant with CHRI. He started the discussion by focusing on the premise that every individual is innocent until proven guilty and is required to be dealt with accordingly; also, the problems faced by under trials were stressed. The questions that followed the discussion were answered effectively and to the satisfaction of the participants. The following session focused on Client Interview and was moderated by Mr. Ajay Verma. Mr. Verma made the session interactive from the very beginning by starting qawwali session, wherein, the participants were divided in two groups of lawyer and client, and were asked to sit on opposite sides. What followed was an active discussion from both sides that revealed the problems that a client or a lawyer might face while interacting with each other. It was emphasized by Mr. Verma that it is necessary to build a relationship with the client and the importance of showing concern to the client and the case. In other words, the client should not feel that he/she is merely another file to the lawyer as this leads to poor getting poor justice and effective advocates remain out of reach to them. The day continued and the post-lunch session articulated the Duties of Defence Lawyer, and the same was jointly chaired by Mr. Anshuman Saxena, an Advocate in Rajasthan High Court, and Mr. Ajay Verma. All the duties as laid down by the Bar Council were enumerated and, further the requirements that a lawyer should fulfill, when the client is poor, in order to give provide effective representation were discussed. An insight was shared by Mr. Saxena, wherein he mentioned that a proper legal aid case can work as a spark for you and it will open the gate for many cases. Last session of the first day was by Ms. Aarthi Ranjan, an advocate, and dealt with Elements of Fair Trial. The day ended on the note that fast track courts does not mean fast track convictions but fast track judgments, as fair trial also means a trial without undue delay. Second day of the workshop started with a recap of previous day, and a session dealing with Common Illegalities – Standards, Practices and Remedies followed. This session was led Ms. Abha Joshi, Advocate and an Activist, and the same was informative in respect of various illegalities that are suffered by the undertrials or even convicts. The center of this session were four case studies that were distributed amongst the lawyers present and the discussion was on the basis of the same. These four case studies were of a juvenile accused of theft, a life term convict who was tortured in jail, a Dalit undertrial who died while in judicial custody, and lastly, of an accused who was encountered when he tried to abscond. It was pointed out by Ms. Joshi that illegalities occur everywhere and it is the duty of a lawyer to challenge them. Another point of importance that was spoken about was Plea-bargaining, and how the lawyers should not agree to something that they might regret at a later date. A documentary called ‘Bol Basanto’ was screened for the audience and the same dealt with the atrocities committed by police officials. The message highlighted in the documentary was that the police is not above law but is for the protection of law. The last session of the workshop was a Panel Discussion on Common Practices that Contribute to Delays. The Panel was constituted of Ms. Joshi, Mr. Verma and Mr. R.K. Saxena and was moderated by Mr. Anshuman Saxena. The ways to deal with delays were discussed and to rectify them in the best interest of the client. The lack of a Magistrate or a Police Official in the Panel was felt, as that would have provided insight of the other side as well. The workshop concluded by presentation of gifts to the resource persons as a token of appreciation and gratitude by Mr. Mohun. A promise was made by the advocates present to implement the insight provided by the workshop in their endeavor to become successful trial court advocate

A day-long workshop with a focus on Rights of the Accused and Effective Representation was organized in Alwar, Rajasthan by International Bridges to Justice (IBJ) in partnership with Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), on September 10’2011. The purpose of the event was to make lawyers aware of the various provisions of Code of Criminal Procedure, which deal with bail, remand, first appearance, and are present for the benefit of the accused. A total of 38 lawyers were present, and the opening note of the event was delivered by Mr. Ajay Verma, who introduced the team and further, outlined the objectives of IBJ. A memory game was started by dividing the group in three different teams, and this was intended to be an ice breaker and to energize the group. The formal sessions started with Mr. R. K. Saxena, Former Inspector General, Rajasthan Prisons and Honorary Consultant with CHRI, who dealt with Administrative Reasons for Non-Appearance before the Courts. Various examples were cited wherein the police officials fail to bring the accused out of judicial custody for a hearing and then ask for remand or they give an excuse of non-availability of escorts. All these instances are clear violation of the concept of Fair Trial, as the same requires the accused to be aware of every aspect of his/her case. Further, he also explained the reasons as per law, which affords the liberty of absence of accused from the court. These reasons are illness of the accused which has to be accompanied with a medical certificate, if the release time is shorter than time taken to travel from jail to court, and lastly if a special permission has been obtained by the government. There was a specific mention of right to protected conversation, which is basically a right provided to the lawyer to meet the prisoner alone. Second session of the day was led by Mr. Ajay Verma, and he spoke about the concept, ‘Liberty is Paramount’. Here, Mr. Verma not only spoke about the importance of communication between the accused and the lawyer, but also questioned the need for custodial interrogation when the accused and the lawyer are co-operative in every step of the way. This session was followed by another one, which dealt with Remand and First Appearance, and was jointly headed by Mr. Anshuman Saxena, Advocate in Rajasthan High Court and Mr. Ajay Verma. Initially the focus was on provisions under Code of Criminal Procedure and Article 22 of the Constitution, subsequently, few cases dealing with these aspects were discussed. Mr. Saxena, made the session interesting and interactive by throwing out offences to the participants and asking them the period of detention that is permissible by law. Mr. Verma spoke about Hussainaira Khatoon v. State of Bihar, and the principles that have been expounded by the Supreme Court. The day came to an end with a session on Bail not Jail, a concept explained in Moti Ram v. State of  Madhya Pradesh, by Ms. Sugandha, Project Officer with CHRI. This session was largely interactive in nature, as the focus was on role playing. Here, few case studies were distributed and young lawyers were given an opportunity to argue the case on bail provisions in front of the judges, Mr. Anshuman Saxena and Mr. Verma. This session was concluded with round of questions, and the participants were requested to provide their feedback. The workshop was an effort to provide lawyers with all the knowledge and techniques, so they are able to provide effective representation to the accused, and to sensitize them towards the problems that are faced by the accused on a regular basis.

A total of 50 warders and head warders from District Jail Alwar, Rajasthan participated. A retired IG, from Rajasthan Prison Shri R.K. Saxena stressed that all those who are in jail are also human and deserve the humane treatment. Though the warders are at the lowest rank in jail administration but they have maximum contact with the accuseds and prisoners hence they have maximum responsibility for reformation and conflict management between them and the inmates. He stressed  that prisoners are human beings, not case files. The court has punished them once; and they are not supposed to be punished daily. It’s in the hands of Prison Staff to inspire the inmates and spark a change in their lives. An Exercise about “Your perspective of Prison” was done by circulating a  comprehensive list of various elements associated with the concept of a jail like walls, bars, grills, handcuffs, beating, torture, monotonous food, restrictions on access to family and friends, ban of use of mobiles and various restrictions imposed on Inmates was conducted with a view to know what they visualize about the same. Mr. T.S. Madaan, a motivational Speaker focused on complete personality development of warders and stress management. He generated enthusiasm in the participants and made an attempt to de stress their minds. He emphasized that one should control their emotions such as anger, fear, anxiety, happiness, stress before they control oneself. According to  him “We all have the controls with us.  He said that lion is a dangerous animal, he eats other animals. But still we don’t hate him as it is his nature.  Mr. Madaan touched upon the use of effective communication skills and emphasized that listening is more important than speaking. It is important to come down to others’ level to understand them and only then we can bring them to our level. We have to put ourselves in other’s shoes to overcome the communication barriers. The idea of this session was to make the staff understand the improtance of effective communication with inmates. Mr. Ajay Verma, Advocate and Fellow of International Bridges to Justice along with Mr. Anshumaan Saxena, An advocate from Jaipur in the last session of the day discussed the basic legal provisions of bail and parole with the warders. Mr. Ajay said that about 65% of prison population in India is under trials and most of them do not know their rights and duties. It is the duty of the warders and Head warders as guardian to inform accused about their right to bail and parole. Mr. Anshuman told the participants about Indian Penal Code, Criminal Procedure Code and Indian Evidence Act in brief. The participants were requested to study basic and common provisions of Criminal procedure and Penal Code  so that they have knowledge about bailable and non-bailable offences. Which will help them to inform the accused about their right to Apply for bail. Often it is seen that the accuseds do not know their right to get Bail in case the Investigating Agency fails to file Charge-Sheet (Final Investigation Report). The Second day  began with felicitation of Mr. Omendra Bhardwaj, Director General, Rajasthan Prisons, who was the guest of honor. Mr. Omendra Bhardwaj, in his opening address said that the complex jail organization is not run by DG or Superintendents or jailors, but it is run by warders and head warders. He emphasized that the responsibility of reformation and rehabilitation of prisoners ultimately lies on the shoulders of warders who can bring them dignity and happiness. The purpose of jails is to reform a person so that he is a better human being when he goes back to society. It is duty of courts to punish the offenders, but jail staff is not supposed to punish them daily. He suggested them to empathies with the inmates and never to crush their self-respect. Theattitude, communication skills and body language of jail staff matters a lot while dealing with the most ignored and vulnerable section of society. Prisoners have a right to reform. The next session conducted by Mr. Ajay Verma, Advocate and Fellow of International Bridges to Justice and Ms. Sugandha, Advocate and Consultant of CHRI who enlightened the participants about various issues in a jail in a very innovative way. With the help of a video clip, they told the jail staff best ways to help people lodged in jails who are without lawyers, what to do if the family doesn’t know that they are in prison, how to deal with the most vulnerable like mentally ill prisoners, juveniles etc. It was  an activity based session where all the warders were divided in the groups of five. then they were instructed to discuss the changes they want to see in their prison and best possible practices they want to follow. After that each group presented their findings in a creative manner in form of writings or drawings. The various suggestions that came were to keep the prisoners occupied, to listen to the inmates who are depressed, informing their families. The warders thought that they should take initiative to increase the reliability between convicts and jail staff and work as their legal parents. Some also suggested the ways to keep the premises green and environmental friendly. The workshop was ended with the panel discussion chaired by Mr. Bhardwaj, Director General Rajasthan Prisons, Mr. Rakesh Mohan, Jail Superintendent, Alwar Prison and Mr. R. K. Saxena, Former I.G. Rajasthan Prisons. This exercise was an attempt to remove communication barrier between the Prison Staff and The Senior Officer of Prison Authority.