Legal aid cuts jail time for undertrials, but help often arrives late

Reaching prisoners soon after arrest is key if free legal aid is to reduce the human and economic costs of pre-trial detentionIndia jails fewer people than most countries — about 41 for every 1,00,000 people — yet more than three-quarters of its prisoners in 2022 were awaiting trial. That places India fourth in the world in the share of undertrials in its prison population.