India, Jan. 31 -- The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed states and union territories to accord "top priority" to the problem of overcrowding in jails, finding the actual occupancy of jails across the country to be "shocking" and "quite worrying" and directed committees to be set up in each district within a week to prepare a roadmap on the number of jails needed to cater to prison population for the next 50 years.

A bench of justices Hima Kohli and Ahsanuddin Amanullah said, "It appears that in most cases (across the country) overcrowding of central jails, district and sub-jails is over 10% of the permitted capacity, in some cases it being 30-50% and even four times. The figures are stark and quite worrying. They need to be addressed on ...