Over 450 prisoners have walked free in Chhattisgarh after a first of its kind initiative anywhere in the country according to authorities were set up in jails across the State on October 15.
These courts will be held every working Saturday and provide relief to undertrials, and in some cases convicted prisoners, by explaining their rights and legal Options such as plea bargaining and settlement.
There are over 20,000 prisoners lodged in various jails in Chhattisgarh, against a sanctioned capacity of 14,000, says Director General (Prisons) Sanjay Pillay. Of these, nearly 12,500 are undertrials.
ThePatnaHigh Court struck down the amended provisions ofBihar Municipal Actand ruled that the State Government took away the powers vested in municipal bodies for selection, appointment and transfer of their employees in violation of the principles of decentralisation of powers and participatory Democracy as envisaged by the constitutional provisions.
The amendments were made through passage of Bihar Municipality (Amendment) Act 2021, notified on March 31 last year, whereby the functional autonomy of municipal bodies in Bihar in selection, appointment and transfer of their employees was restricted and the same powers were vested directly in the state government.