Context:

According to a recently released report by the President of India titled “Prisons in India: Mapping Prison Manuals and Measures for Reformation and Decongestion”, electronic tracking of prisoners can provide a solution for overcrowded Indian Jails.

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• This report is authored by the Supreme Court’s Centre for Research and Planning and suggests a variety of measures to address overcrowding in prisons.
• In July, the Supreme Court ruled that bail conditions allowing police to track an accused's movements violate the right to privacy.
• However, reports from the Law Commission of India and the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs suggest tracking could be beneficial if implemented with appropriate safeguards.

Scenario of Jails in India

• According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), India's prisons are facing a major problem of overcrowding, with a national average occupancy rate of 131.4% as of December 2022. 
• 75.8% of prisoners in India are undertrials, meaning they are still awaiting trial and have not been convicted yet.

Advantages of Electronic Monitoring for Undertrials

• By using electronic devices to monitor low and moderate-risk undertrials, prisons can reduce crowding.
• Electronic tracking is cheaper than building more prison facilities and helps reduce costs related to housing and feeding inmates.
• Undertrials are innocent until proven guilty, so electronic monitoring allows them to stay out of jail while still being monitored thus helping them to protect their rights.
• Devices like GPS trackers can monitor undertrials in real-time, ensuring they follow bail conditions and are less likely to flee.

Challenges

Negative impact on Marginalized groups: Overuse of surveillance can lead to oppressive, criminalizing environments, especially affecting marginalized communities.

• It may disproportionately affect communities of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes in India as they are overrepresented in prison populations.

Stagmatization: Wearing tracking devices, such as ankle bracelets, could lead to social stigma. 

Privacy Concerns: Constant surveillance through electronic devices might feel like an invasion of personal privacy.

• The Delhi High Court ruled that certain tracking conditions, like sharing real-time location data, violated fundamental privacy rights.

Technical Issues: Problems like device failures, signal loss, or tampering can make the system less effective.

Key Suggestions

The 268th Law Commission report acknowledges that electronic monitoring could affect constitutional rights and suggests that it should only be used in serious cases, like for repeat offenders. 

• It also recommends that the laws must be updated to reflect these changes. 

For electronic monitoring to work well, India needs careful planning, proper resources, and legal safeguards to ensure it is done ethically and fairly.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee in 2023 suggested that to avoid any kind of human rights violation, the consent of inmates (voluntary) must be taken.