Prison reforms – India Legal

Supreme Court expands scope of district committees to address pregnancies of women inmates

India Legal — Fri, 16 Feb 2024 08:38:30 +0000

The Supreme Court on Friday resumed its hearing in the matter concerning conditions in prisons. Earlier, the apex court had taken suo motu notice of the alarming number of pregnancies occurring among women inmates in prisons across the country.

In its order today, the Court expanded the scope of the district-level committees, which are to be constituted by the states and Union Territories to alleviate the issue of overcrowding of prisons in India. At present, the committee is also required to address the aspect particularly related to female inmates holistically.

On February 9, the Supreme Court had taken suo motu cognizance of the alarming number of pregnancies occurring among women inmates in prisons across the country. The development follows a day after a significant plea was brought before the Calcutta High Court, drawing attention to a troubling trend of women prisoners becoming pregnant while in custody within correctional homes across West Bengal.

The Bench comprising Justice Hima Kohli and Justice A Amanullah are currently hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) aimed at tackling the overcrowding crisis in Indian prisons. The suo motu case is also being heard along with the former matter.

The Supreme Court on January 30 had ordered the establishment of district-level committees entrusted with evaluating the existing infrastructure in jails and determining the need for additional facilities following the Model Prison Manual of 2016.

The Court directed that these Committees will consist of the Principal/District judge (Chairperson of the District Legal Services Authority), Member Secretary (DLSA), District Magistrate (in charge of the particular District), Superintendent of Police, and Superintendent(s) of Jails. The apex court also directed all the State Governments/Union Territories to file a Fresh Status Report by or before 05th April 2024.

Furthermore, the bench has directed that apart from the aforesaid members, a senior most lady judicial officer in the district may also be included as a member. It reasoned that this is being asked to ensure that available security measures, hygiene measures, health care infrastructure can be fairly assessed. It also ordered that the committee must include a superintendent of women’s jail, wherever possible.

The Supreme Court clarified that the date for filing the status reports by States and UTs will be the same and posted the matter for hearing on April 09, 2024.

Supreme Court directs constitution of district committees to report on existing, required jail infrastructure

India Legal — Wed, 31 Jan 2024 06:36:28 +0000

The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed states and Union Territories to form district level committees to assess and report on available infrastructure in jails and give a decision on the number of additional jails required in terms of the Model Prison Manual, 2016. The court was hearing a PIL initiated to address the issue of overcrowding of prisons in the country.

A bench of Justice Hima Kohli and Justice A Amanullah directed the state and UT governments to notify the constitution of the Committees within a week from the date of receipt of the court’s order. It added that the committees will consist of the Principal/District judge (Chairperson of the District Legal Services Authority), Member Secretary (DLSA), District Magistrate (in-charge of the particular District), Superintendent of Police and Superintendents of Jails.

The top court further directed the committees to initiate steps to examine the requirement of expanding the existing jails and acquiring land to establish new jails within the Districts depending on current capacity, occupancy and future demands of the Districts.

Furthermore, the court said that the committees will also take into account the status of the ongoing projects and proposals that are pending within the departments to ascertain that milestones are set for completing the ongoing projects. It continued that whenever a project has to take off for want of land, steps should be taken to identify the land for the purpose of acquisition and thereby a report should be placed before the Chief Secretary for obtaining necessary approvals and fast-tracking the process.

The apex court also stipulated that the Committees shall keep in mind the requirement of AI and the institution of video-conferencing towards mulakat. The matter is now scheduled for hearing on April 9, 2024.

Earlier, the Supreme Court asked the states and Union Territories to furnish details of their respective territories on the number of jails presently setup, sanctioned capacity and the actual capacity of the jails, current requirement to set up more jails and the steps initiated and stage at which such plans were for establishing more jails.

Prison reforms: Supreme Court grants six more months to committee to submit report

India Legal — Fri, 11 Mar 2022 13:47:07 +0000

The Supreme Court on Friday granted six months’ time to the Committee on Prison Reforms headed by former Supreme Court judge Justice Amitava Roy to submit its final report.

The Division Bench of Justices L. Nageswara Rao and B.R. Gavai was hearing an application by the Centre seeking expedition of the process and directions to the committee to submit a final report within two months.

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“Having gone through the note and after hearing the Ld. Attorney General, we request the Committee to submit its final report six months from today. List the matter thereafter.”

Attorney General K.K. Venugopal submitted that violating the order dated 25.09.2018, the Justice Roy committee has failed to furnish a final report within 12 months and now 3 years and 5 months have passed.

Venugopal further argued that Covid cannot be taken as an excuse for delay in report as 2 of the 4 reports have been furnished during the pandemic.

According to the AGI’s submission the (Prisons, reformatories, Borstal institutions and other institutions of a like nature, and persons detained therein; arrangements with other States for the use of prisons and other institutions) is pertaining to Entry 4 list 2 and it is a subject for the state.

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Advocate and Amicus Curiae Gaurav Agrawal submitted that some reports are still pending and will be completed within a period of 6 months and requested the court to grant the above-mentioned time.

The petition arose out of a letter dated June 13, 2013 to the Chief Justice of India relating to the disturbing conditions of 1382 prisons in India relying on a story which had appeared in Dainik Bhaskar on March 24, 2013. The letter had been written by R.C. Lahoti, former Chief Justice of India.

Justice Lahoti had pointed out in his letter the inadequacy of reformative schemes for offenders and other prominent issues which were covered by the newspaper in its story viz., overcrowding of prisons, unnatural death of prisoners, the inadequacy of prison staff and present staff not being adequately or properly trained.

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On September 25, 2018, the top court had constituted a three-member committee, headed by Justice Amitava Roy, to look into jail reforms across India and make recommendations on several aspects, including overcrowding.

SC seeks Centre’s reply on overcrowding of jails, prison reforms

India Legal — Wed, 05 Feb 2020 07:23:06 +0000

The Supreme Court on Wednesday sought Centre’s reply regarding overcrowding of jails and vacancies in prisons.

A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice SA Bobde and comprising Justices BR Gavai and Surya Kant gave Additional Solicitor General AS Nadkarni two weeks time to inform the court on what steps it is going to take to deal with issues raised in Justice Amitava Roy committee report.

CJI SA Bobde acknowledged that overcrowding in the jails is connected to the performance of the courts and will have to be tackled.

The court was hearing a writ petition filed before the Supreme Court of India to address the inhuman conditions in 1,382 prisons across India and to issue directions, if necessary for prison reforms.

The court had earlier requested Justice Amitava Roy Committee to look into all the issues raised in the application in greater depth in addition to its terms of reference.

On September 25, 2018, the top court had constituted a three-member committee, headed by former apex court judge Amitava Roy, to look into jail reforms across India and make recommendations on several aspects, including overcrowding.

R.C. Lahoti J, former Chief Justice of India, wrote a letter dated June 13, 2013 to the Chief Justice of India relating to the disturbing conditions of 1382 prisons in India relying on a story which had appeared in Dainik Bhaskar on March 24, 2013.

Prison reforms: SC constitutes former SC judge-headed committee to suggest measures

India Legal — Tue, 25 Sep 2018 07:15:21 +0000

In a bid to improve the conditions of jails in India, the apex court on Tuesday constituted a committee headed by former SC judge Amitava Roy to ascertain the prevailing conditions in prisons all over the country and suggest measures to improve it.

A bench comprising Justices M B Lokur and Deepak Gupta said the committee will examine the issues in prisons including over-crowding, unnatural death of prisoners, inadequacy of prison staff and present staff not being adequately or properly trained.

The bench was hearing a plea raising concern on various issues faced by 1382 prisons in India.

On the previous hearing on Aug 27, the bench had reserved its decision whether to form a committee to deal with issues relating to prison reforms across the country and suggest measures.

—India Legal Bureau

The Jail Jam

India Legal — Sat, 10 Dec 2016 10:02:22 +0000

With jailbreaks in the news, sloppy security in prisons is in focus, but there’s a bigger related problem: overcrowding of jails. The judiciary has taken up the issue but can it have any impact?

By Karan Kaushik

The Supreme Court recently made public an alarming statistic—prisons in Delhi and nine other states have an occupancy rate of 150 per cent! Such massive overcrowding puts enormous pressure on living conditions and on security—as witnessed in the Nabha jailbreak by Khalistan militants. The apex court, while responding to a suo moto Public Interest Litigation, was told that the average occupancy in all jails in the country was 117.4 percent, based on latest figures available. Chhattisgarh tops the list with an occupancy rate of more than double the capacity.

As a consequence, a Supreme Court bench of Justice MB Lokur and Justice RK Agrawal has asked the Ministry of Home Affairs to obtain a status report from states regarding compliance of its orders to reduce the prison population and improve the living conditions of prisoners. “Fundamental rights and human rights of people, however they may be placed, cannot be ignored only because of their adverse circumstances,” the judgment stated.

Overcrowding is not just about more bodies occupying the same space. In a letter, later turned into a writ petition, former Chief Justice of India RC Lahoti had pointed out that this violated the fundamental rights of undertrials and convicted prisoners. In its latest judgment, the Supreme Court found that the authorities (read state governments) have defied repeated orders of the court to draw up a “viable” plan of action to decongest jails. Instead, they have fallen back on ad hoc proposals like construction of additional barracks or jails without mentioning a time-frame. Most large prisons are old constructions built within cities with little scope for expansion.

“Fundamental rights and human rights of people, however they may be placed, cannot be ignored only because of their adverse circumstances.”

—Justices MB Lokur and RK Agrawal on overcrowding of jails

The alternative is to build new prisons outside city limits. But this leads to logistical problems of ferrying prisoners to and from courts. The figures say it all. Just one state, Uttar Pradesh, houses one-fifth of the total jail population of the country with more than 88,000 inmates in its 67 jails. While the number of prisoners per 1,00,000 of population is 34 nationally, it is as high as 66 in Uttar Pradesh (50 in Varanasi, the prime minister’s constituency). According to the latest prison statistics of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), Indian prisons have an average occupancy ratio of 18 percent above the stated capacity. Chhattisgarh’s 28 prisons house 17,662 inmates, which makes the occupancy rate 233.5 percent. Among the Union Territories, Dadra and Nagar Haveli has recorded an occupancy rate of 276.7 percent, although its prison population is comparatively small.

Overcrowding adds to the misery of living conditions for inmates, a majority of whom are facing trial and not yet convicted for any crime. It leads to anger, frustration and a dehumanizing process. This year in April, two riots broke out in Varanasi district jail on consecutive days. The jail superintendent was taken hostage and the deputy superintendent was beaten up by inmates. The trigger was the prisoners’ long-standing grievances, which included beatings by jail staff, corruption, poor quality food and other problems that plague jails as a whole. Over-crowding is at the core of many of these.

(Clockwise from top) An exhibition of paintings by inmates of Gurugram prison; practising yoga; undergoing a literacy program; taking vocational training in art and craft and beautician courses. Photos: UNI, Karan Kaushik and India Vision Foundation

One man who is looking into the issue and possible solutions is Supreme Court- appointed amicus curiae Gaurav Agrawal. He has recommended significant reforms based on his research. One is the urgent need for state governments to construct new jails. Agrawal has also asked state governments to send in their own suggestions.

“Each government has its own problems and its own budget. Many states have submitted their reports to me and to the court but I need more information. It’s a time consuming process,” Agarwal told India Legal.

Prison reforms have been the subject matter of discussion for 35 years now and it is clear that the issue of overcrowding in jails has not been given its due attention. Measures to decongest prisons have been infrequent and administrations apathetic even after regular intervention by the Supreme Court. Congested prisons fail to guarantee the rights of the prisoners’ to good health and dignity and result in problems relating to hygiene, sanitation, management and discipline. Incarceration is not only damaging physically and mentally but also changes the life of an individual socially, financially and emotionally. Prison officers and staff are not ideally suited or trained to take correctional measures, which is why one suggestion is to involve NGOs in the area of prison reforms. This has achieved positive results in Delhi’s Tihar jail as well as the Gurugram jail in what was formerly Gurgaon (see box).

The problem also lies with the courts. Pendency is a major issue and the huge backlog of cases means that a large percentage of undertrials continue to languish in jails often for petty offenses. The Law Enforcement Assistance Administration National Census of 1970 revealed that 52 per cent of the jail inmates were awaiting trial.

[vc_custom_heading text=”The Gurugram way”]

A model prison shows the way to reform and rehabilitation

Here’s a fun fact: Gurugram jail was the first to open its doors to foreign tourists to view the living conditions and rehabilitation measures it has undertaken. Gurugram prison has in fact, turned out to be a model prison after the capital’s Tihar jail was turned into a correctional center by Kiran Bedi’s India Vision Foundation, which, in 2012 extended its work to Gurugram prison. Gurugram has tied up with Indira Gandhi National Open University and National Institute of Open Schooling which has allowed the India Vision Foundation to initiate an e-library program, computer education, literacy programs, vocational training in tailoring, weaving, beautician courses, art, chocolate-making, sanitary napkin-making and workshops in areas like health and hygiene, apart from sports activities.

For inmates at Gurugram, the day starts with yoga, followed by dance, music and art and craft. Learning a new activity helps channelize energy and focus and even creates a new avenue for earning and rehabilitation. The art work done by inmates has been exhibited and sold in galleries and art fairs. Ajmer Singh Shriwal from Haryana’s Rohtak district, is a perfect example of Gurugram’s reform system. He is an undertrial in the famous Maruti’s Manesar Plant Case of 2012, where he worked as a senior executive. Music has helped him cope with life in prison. He writes spiritual songs, sings, plays the harmonium and teaches others. He feels that his thinking has changed a lot and he is also hopeful of a better future.

For some inmates, life has already changed. Five of them are working as computer teachers in other prisons of Haryana and have been reintegrated into society while two more are working with India Vision Foundation as project coordinators for other prisons. Bunty Kumar, an undertrial in the Maruti case, took up tailoring at the training center. Now out on bail, he earns Rs 10,000 a month through the Singer company’s program for inmates. What Gurugram’s success shows is that NGOs can indeed make a difference in prison reform and easing the psychological pressures from overcrowding.

Speaking to India Legal, Swami Vishal Anand, who has been working as a prison program coordinator and is also a part of the Divya Jyoti Jagrati Sansthan, an agency working for prisoner reformation, rehabilitation and reintegration, says: “Our problem is not overcrowding, but the failure of our judicial and correction system. The purpose of prisons is correction of the inmates and we talk about constructing new prisons instead which can never be a solution.”

He suggested creation of a correctional cadre of officers who are well-informed on prison reforms. That might help improve the lives of prisoners but it is hardly a solution to overcrowding. In its latest intervention, the Supreme Court of India has given the authorities a deadline of six months to come up with suggestions and viable solutions. It remains to be seen whether this has any effect.

Lead picture: The facade of Gurugram District Prison decorated by inmates. Photo: Karan Kaushik