Production of accused in court fundamental to criminal system: SC

New Delhi: Observing that an accused going to court is "fundamental to the criminal system", the Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to entertain a plea which said production of undertrial prisoners before court on every date should not be ordered as a "matter of routine", while raising the issue of safety.

A bench headed by Chief Justice of India U U Lalit said as an idea it is good but the practical application would create a lot of difficulty.

"I visited one of the jails in Mumbai, and now in a city like Mumbai, there are say about six terminals which can facilitate the presence of an accused during the trial through virtual mode. There are a number of accused. So, at a time, only six persons can avail of that benefit," said Justice Lalit, who was heading the bench which also comprised Justices S R Bhat and Bela M Trivedi.

The bench allowed advocate Rishi Malhotra, who had filed the petition, to withdraw the plea.

At the outset, Malhotra said it has become a "routine affair in the trial courts that every now and then an undertrial has to be produced before the court." He said it is endangering the lives of judicial officers, undertrials as well as the public.

"As an idea, it is good but the practical application creates a lot of difficulty," the bench said, adding, "an accused going to the court is fundamental to our whole criminal system". On Malhotra's prayer of producing undertrial prisoners before courts through video-conference, the CJI said: "Supposing there are a number of accused who cannot be produced even through virtual mode, what it means is that all those trial courts will be obliged to adjourn the matters."

Malhotra told the bench he will withdraw the plea.

The petitioner, while pitching for production of undertrial prisoners, especially gangsters, through video-conference, said it would balance safety and security of the public and judicial officers and the rights of the accused.

"The fulcrum of the instant public interest litigation is to prevent the various trial courts across India to not insist on presence of undertrials on each and every date as a matter of routine practice thereby not only endangering the safety of public as well as judicial officers but also facilitating the opportunity of hardcore prisoners from escaping from the custody of the police," it said.

The plea referred to several incidents in trial courts, including the September firing incident inside a district court in Delhi last year, when three people, including a jailed gangster, were killed.

While referring to various provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), it said they provide powers to the court concerned to dispense with the personal appearance of undertrial prisoners who are brought from jails during normal trial proceedings.

The plea said Section 267 of the CrPC, which deals with the power of the trial court to require attendance of a prisoner from jail, gives discretion to the trial judge to order attendance of a prisoner from the prison.