Agencies
AGARTALA, OCTOBER 19
Hoping to reduce the sufferings of undertrial prisoners, the Tripura government will link courts with jails through video-conferencing facilities in the next few days. This will ensure that undertrial prisoners do not have to be produced in court, minimizing security hassles.
The video link will be initially installed in three district courts in Agartala, Kailashahar and Udaipur, law minister Tapan Chakraborty said on Saturday. Ferrying prisoners to and from jails has become a major hassle for the administration. Providing them with basic amenities in the court is also a challenge for the state government.
“As per the Supreme Court guidelines, prisoners should be provided basic amenities inside and outside jail so that their rights as a human being are not compromised in any way. It is difficult to ensure this on the premises of a court,” he said.
“Conducting trials through video-conference will help us avoid such problems. We believe it will help magistrates conduct speedy trials,” he added.
The system, costing Rs 50 lakh, has been developed by the National Informatics Centre (NIC) using a lease network of BSNL. Each court has a dedicated space, comprising a 29-inch colour TV, a set-top box with an inbuilt camera and a microphone, for conducting trials through video-conference.
