Police & notices › Family member in jail
My son has been in jail for years and the trial has not started
What usually matters in this situation, and the papers to keep ready before you meet an advocate or free legal aid (call 15100).
Make my own list — free, 2 minutesYour situation
- What do you need? Bail — they have been in jail for a long time
- Has the person been convicted? No — undertrial (case going on)
- How long have they been in jail? More than 3 years
Where you stand
- In your favour Any prisoner can get a free lawyer through the District Legal Services Authority — call 15100.
- In your favour Long detention without trial is itself a strong ground for bail.
Do these now
- Written request to the District Legal Services Authority for a free lawyer, with receipt
Any prisoner is entitled to a free lawyer. Where: DLSA office at the district court, or call 15100. - Application to the jail superintendent and the court for release under BNSS s.479
The superintendent must apply once half (or a third) of the maximum sentence is served. Where: Through the lawyer or the jail legal aid clinic.
Papers to gather
- FIR number, police station, sections charged and the court name
Every application starts from these. Where: Police station, the family’s copy, or the eCourts website. - Date of arrest and the custody (remand) orders
Time served decides bail under section 479. Where: Court order sheets; jail office. - Prisoner number, jail name and ward
Needed for meetings, legal aid and applications. Where: Jail office.
What the law says
Under section 479 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), an undertrial who has been detained for half the maximum sentence for the offence must be released on bail, and a first-time offender after one-third — this does not apply to offences punishable with death or life imprisonment, and the jail superintendent must apply to the court. Every district has an Undertrial Review Committee and legal aid clinics in jails run by the District Legal Services Authority; any prisoner is entitled to a free lawyer. Meetings (mulakat), parole and furlough are governed by each state’s prison rules. When a person dies, disappears or a woman alleges rape in police or judicial custody, an inquiry by a Judicial Magistrate is mandatory in addition to the police investigation (BNSS s.196(2)); the National Human Rights Commission is to be informed within 24 hours. Courts award compensation for custodial deaths and torture under Article 21.
General information, not legal advice.
Saboot will also ask
- Is the offence punishable with death or life imprisonment?
Similar situations
- An undertrial has served half the maximum sentence
- My husband in jail has no lawyer
- The jail is not letting us meet my family member
- Need parole for a wedding or funeral in the family
- My brother is sick in jail and not being treated
- My father was beaten in jail
- My son died in police custody
- A prisoner died in jail and we were not told the reason
Sources
The full guide: A family member is in jail — bail, long detention as an undertrial, meeting them, parole, or death in custody · All situations