Ranchi, April 29: Jharkhand High Court directed inspector-general of prisons S.K. Barnwal to ensure that a record of all inmates lodged in the jails of the state is maintained by the authorities concerned.

The court has also directed the release of those undertrials kept for committing petty offences if they have served half their sentence.

Barnwal was asked to align with district judges and deputy commissioners of the state to tabulate the number of inmates along with their case history.

The division bench, while hearing a PIL filed by Amit Kumar on the condition of prisoners in the state, said inmates lodged in jails should avail the facility of “plea bargaining”.

The bench said plea bargaining was a good tool to solve cases and prisoners can benefit from legislation. The court directed district judges and deputy commissioners to maintain a register of the inmates who can avail the benefits as it has been introduced in the Code of Criminal Procedure.

The state government furnished a report of undertrials and their status from jails of 17 districts of the state. The report mentioned that as many as 162 convicts have been released within the past few months under the provision of plea bargaining.

The state government counsel suggested that NGOs along with the State Legal Services Authority should join hands to conduct more camps for plea bargaining. Convicts can be liberated if they are willing to accept their guilt and would get a lesser punishment, the counsel said.

Kumar, a detainee in the Birsa Munda Jail since 2003 had filed a PIL in the court informing the plight of the prisoners. A letter was also addressed to the Vigilance Committee of the high court, which is headed by a senior judge.

A division bench comprising the then chief justice Nelavoy Dhinakar and justice S.J. Mukhopadhaya while hearing the petition directed all district judges to survey prisons in their area and state whether the Jail Manual is being strictly followed with regard to the medical health, fooding and clothing of inmates.