Judicial deaths: K'taka ahead in South

Ahna Prakash | NT

Bengaluru: Karnataka recorded 66 deaths during judicial custody, much higher than other southern Indian states like Kerala and Telangana, which recorded 40 and 20 cases, respectively.

 The latest prison statistics show a 12 percent increase in deaths under judicial custody compared to 2020 in the country. In India, as many as 2,116 prisoners have died in judicial custody during 2021. Of those, 1,879 were natural deaths; 185 were due to unnatural causes, and 52 deaths were reported as causes not known yet.

The state data reveals that out of 66 judicial deaths, 58 were from illness, and the remaining 8 were categorised as ‘unnatural’ deaths like suicide.

 Experts say that this is due to mismanagement of budget allocation by the state government.

 The total sanctioned budget for Karnataka prisons during the 2021-22 financial year was Rs 467.3 cr, a 46 percent increase from the financial year 2020- 21 when Rs 319.8 crores were allocated.

According to the report, the total annual expenditure at the national level is 31.3 percent. Karnataka comes in last in the list of states spending inordinately less than the national average. Karnataka only spent 12.9 percent of the allocated budget in 2021 on prisoners.

 As most of the judicial deaths in the state are due to illness, it can be noted that Karnataka spent only 4.76 cr of the allocated Rs 467.3 cr on medical expenses.