The Centre told the Supreme Court on Friday that the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita-2023's section 479, which relates to the "maximum period for which undertrial prisoner can be detained", would apply retrospectively to undertrials across the country.

Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, appearing for the Centre, told a bench of justices Hima Kohli and Sandeep Mehta that section 479 of the BNSS, which replaces section 436A of the Code of Criminal Procedure, will apply to all undertrials irrespective of the fact that the crime is registered before July 1, 2024.

The BNSS, the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam came into affect on July 1, replacing the British-era Code of Criminal Procedure, Indian Penal Code, and Indian Evidence Act, respectively.

The top court took note of the submission and directed jail superintendents across the country where undertrials are detained to process their applications through the courts concerned upon the completion of one-third of the period mentioned in sub-section of the provision.

Steps shall be taken as expeditiously as possible, preferably within three months, the apex court said.

Senior advocate Gaurav Agrawal, who is amicus curiae in the case, had earlier told the bench that section 479 relating to the "maximum period for which undertrial prisoner can be detained" needs to be implemented at the earliest, and it will help in addressing overcrowding in prisons.

The top court has been actively monitoring the issue of prison overcrowding since October 2021, when it took suo motu cognisance of the problem.

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