PRISON AND PRISON REFORMS

CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENT……………………………………………………………….02

ABSTRACT…………………………………………………………………………04

SYNOPSIS…………………………………………………………………………..05

INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………………….06

A SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS OF PRISONS IN INDIA………………………………….07

PRISONS IN INDIA…………………………………………………………………..09

PRISON REFORMS IN INDIA………………………………………………………...10

SUBSEQUENT DEVELOPMENTS…………………………………………………….12

THE SUGGESTED PRISON REFORMS………………………………………………..16

TECHNIQUES OF PRISON REFORMS………………………………………………....19

CASE LAWS…………………………………………………………………………21

CONCLUSION……………………………………………………………………….23

BIBIOLGRAPHY……………………………………………………………………..24
ABSTRACT
Prison populations have remained at the margins of welfare and development, and have seldom
been viewed as in need of or deserving of social services. A gradual transition has taken place
with the development of criminology as a subject of enquiry, whereby the individual alone is no
longer held responsible for his / her behavior in breach of norm or any law. The change included
a gradual shift in policy away from capital punishment, torture and deteriorating forms of
punishment, imprisonment as and not for punishment, more humane conditions of detention,
protection of legal and human rights, and eventually an emphasis on retraining, rehabilitation and
social inclusion. This paper analyses the situation of prisons in India from a historical as well as
contemporary perspective, outlining the legal status of prisoners, court judgements and reform
committee reports and suggests the way forward in addressing the issues highlighted in the
chapter.
SYNOPSIS
Objective of the Study:

To understand how of prison works and the reforms taken by the government.

Scope of the Study:

The Study deals only with the concept of prison, prison reforms and the reports of the
commissions.

Significance of the Study:

This study helps us to understand how the prisons works in India and what are the reforms have
been carried out.

Literature Review:

The information is taken from various books, online resources, articles.

Type of Research:

This research is descriptive and explanatory study

Research Question:

 How will the prison’s work in India?

 What are the reformation’s taken by the Government regarding prisoners in India?
INTRODUCTION
Prison population has remained at the margins of welfare and development, and has seldom been
viewed as in need of deserving social services. With the development of criminology as a
subject of enquiry, a gradual shift has taken place, whereby the individual alone has no
more held responsible for his or her norm or law breaking behavior. The shift in
perspective has led to the development of an understanding of crime causation that
includes psychological, social, economic and political factors as being responsible for
deviant behavior in human beings. The shift has included a gradual policy shift away from
capital punishment, torture and debilitating forms of punishment, imprisonment as and
not for punishment, more human rights, and finally a focus on retraining, rehabilitation
and social inclusions.

The history of the correctional movement could be traced to developments which first took place
in the U.K. in the early twentieth century. The turning point, in the humane treatment of
custodial populations came with the Universal declaration of Human Rights. These standards
were further strengthened by the U.N. Standard Minimum Rules of Treatment of Prisoners,
1955. In the Indian scenario, the Indian Constitution, the prisons Act, 1894, the rulings of the
Supreme Court and the various High Courts in the country and the reports of various reform
committees set up by the government from time to time have adequately highlighted the
problems and concerns with regard to the situation of prisoners and the suggested roadmap to
address these concerns. In contrast, the situation at the ground level continuand rehabiles to a
cause for concern. It warrants urgent steps to be taken with regard to deinstitutionalization of
prison populations, improving custodial conditions and taking steps to create human resource
and infrastructure to fulfill the correctional and rehabilitation objectives of Indian criminal
justice system.

A SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS OF PRISONS IN INDIA

The system of prison welfare was set in the context of reformation and rehabilitation of the
convicted prisoners. Prisons were originally meant to house those who had been convicted
by law for the offences they were charged with. A minor focus of the prisons was the housing
of untried or under trailed prisoners, i.e. those awaiting trail and kept in judicial custody, till the
completion of their cases in courts. They were in prison either because they were unable to
produce suitable sureties or because they had been denied bail due to the nature of the offence
they were charged with. The basic duty of the prison and judicial authorities towards this
population was to ensure their physical and mental health and safety and access to their legal
rights. The question of any correctional or treatment programs for this group did not arise, as
they had not yet been found guilty of the offence they had been charged with.

However, one fact that the authorities and civil society did not take note of was the rising
numbers of under trails in prisons. Owing to the rising crime rate, it sis observed that the number
of prisoners has expanded since the last century. However, the number of prisons has not
increased post-Independence, thus resulting in overcrowding and non-classification of prisoners
according to correctional principles. According to National Crime Records Bureau (2006) there
are a total of 1336 prisons in the country, housing a total population of 373,271 prisoners as
against a stipulate capacity of 263,911 prisoners.

The delays in trails in courts have also taken menacing dimensions, leading to the overcrowding
of prisons. The Law Commission in its 120 th Report recommended that the strength of judges per
million population may be increased from 10.5 to 50 judges. The present judge strength in India
is 14 per million population. India has one of the poorest judge-population ratios when compared
to countries such as Australia, USA etc. This is despite that the fact that the pendency of cases in
the country is about 26.3 million in the subordinate courts and over 3 million in the High Courts
in India.1

By the early eighties, the situation had become alarming, the array of public interest litigations
that have clogged the courts since then, is an indicator of the seriousness of the problem at hand.
A system that was designed to handle a specific target group, i.e. convicts had now been taken
over by another, for which the system was poorly prepared, i.e. under trials. Investments in the
welfare sector by the government reduced considerably in terms of institutional set up,
manpower, training, and service delivery. There was a gradual neglect of the criminal justice
system, and custodial institutions in particular.

1
Hindustan Times,2007
As urbanization has increased, has lead to increase crime rates, particularly in urban centres. As
more people migrated to cities and towns in search of livelihoods, a plethora of archaic laws,
designed by the British primarily to maintain law and order, were used by the police to take
charge of persons who were seen as disturbing law and order, resulting in the criminalization of
persons primarily migrants in search of employment and coming from poverty groups. The
prison system came to be crushed under the weight of petty offenders, ticket less travelers, those
arrested for loitering in suspicious circumstances, drunken behavior, hawkers etc and a host of
other property crimes which could be linked to the overall lack of employment options and social
security benefits that any caring state should have. These cases in term clogged the courts of the
country, crippling the criminal justice system in the process.

The situation of interminable delays in the Justice delivery system in turn, has led to a very poor
conviction rate. Collection of evidence, summoning of witness, ensuring they do not turn hostile
at the trail stage and retaining the interest of the complainant in convicting the offender became a
huge task for the prosecuting agencies. Most persons arrested finally get either acquitted or
discharged in their cases. The police machinery routinely arrests people rather than use their
discretion of arrest.2

The Codes then demand them to judicial custody after police investigation is over, thus
increasing the load on the prisons. The prisons in turn have no choice to keep them as under
trails till they go out on bail. Correctional and vocational training facilities are provided only to
the last mentioned category, as in classical understanding, these are the only persons who
constitute the client population of the prison systems.

As far as the higher judiciary and enlightened forces within the system is concerned, the system
should be accessible to the marginalized, but in practice the rights and facilities offered by the
system somehow eludes those who are most in need. The major reason is that the structures and
investments required in implementing the code judgments and reform committee reports simply
do not exist. In consonance with the change in realities their have been little or no investments
made to increase trained manpower, ensure legal rights creates rehabilitation structures and
reduce overload on the system.

2
The power of arrest is a discretionary power given to the police by the law. The Criminal Procedure Code
Amendment 2008 has further clarified this position under Section 41 of the Code.
According to the Prison Statistics of India, the total number of prisoners provided with

 Educational facilities was 100,959 (around 27 per cent of total prison population)
 Vocational training was 40,338 (around 11 per cent)
 Financial assistance was an in significant 1709 prisoners, and
 Rehabilitated convicts was 1632.

Shockingly, as many as 24 states have reported that the number of cases officially given financial
assistance as zero and 19 states have reported that the number of cases rehabilitated during the
same period is zero.

PRISONS IN INDIA
India follows the international obligations and guidelines with respect to the care of
prisoners and various steps are being taken towards prison reform.

According to the UN Global Report on Crime and Justice 1999, the rate of imprisonment in
our country is very low, i.e. 25 prisoners per one lakh of population, in comparison to
Australia (981 prisoners), England (125 prisoners), USA (616 prisoners) and Russia (690
prisoners) per one lakh population. A large chunk of prison population is dominated by
first offenders (around 90%) The rate of offenders and recidivists in prison population of
Indian jails is 9:l while in the UK it is 12:1, which is quite revealing and alarming.

Despite the relatively low number of persons in prison as compared to many other countries in
the world, there are some very common problems across prisons in India, and the situation is
likely to be the same or worse in many developing countries.

INTERNATIONAL GUIDELINES

The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) remains the core international
treaty on the protection of the rights of prisoners. India ratified the Covenant in 1979 and is
bound to incorporate its provisions into domestic law and state practice. The International
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESR) states that prisoners have a right to
the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health. Apart from civil and political
rights, the so called second generation economic and social human rights as set down in the
ICESR also apply to the prisoners.

On the issue of prison offences and punishment, the standard minimum rules are very clear. The
rules state that, no prisoner shall be punished unless he or she has been informed of the offences
alleged against him/her and given a proper opportunity of presenting his/her defense‟. It
recommends that corporal punishment, by placing in a dark cell and all „cruel, in-human or
degrading punishments shall be completely prohibited as a mode of punishment and disciplinary
action‟ in the jails.

PRISON REFORMS IN INDIA

The modern prison in India originated with the suggestions of TB Macaulay in 1835. A
committee namely Prison Discipline Committee, was appointed, which submitted its report on
1838. The committee recommended increased rigorousness of treatment while rejecting all
humanitarian needs and reforms for the prisoners. Following the recommendations of the
Macaulay Committee between 1836-1838, Central Prisons were constructed from 1846.

The contemporary Prison administration in India is thus a legacy of British rule. It is based
on the notion that the best criminal code can be of little use to a community unless there is
good machinery for the infliction of punishments. In 1864, the Second Commission of
Inquiry into Jail Management and Discipline made similar recommendations as the 1836
Committee. In addition, this Commission made some specific suggestions regarding
accommodation for prisoners, improvement in diet, clothing, bedding and medical care. In
1877, a Conference of Experts met to inquire into prison administration. The conference
proposed the enactment of a prison law and a draft bill was prepared. In 1888, the Fourth Jail
Commission was appointed. On the basis of its recommendation, a consolidated prison bill was
formulated. Provisions regarding the jail offences and punishment were specially examined by a
conference of experts on Jail Management. In 1894, the draft bill became law with the assent of
the Governor General of India.

PRISONS ACT 1894: Prisons Act, 1894, is the basis on which the present jail management and
administration is operated in India. This Act has hardly undergone any substantial change over
such a long period. However, the process of review of the prison problems in India remained in
continuation. For the first time in the history of prisons in Indian Jail Committee 1919-20,
'reformation and rehabilitation' of offenders were identified as the objectives of the prison
administrator. After Independence several committees & commissions appointed by Central and
State governments emphasized humanitarian conditions in the prisons. The need for considerable
change and consolidating the laws relating to prison has been constantly highlighted.

THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA ACT 1935

Allowed the subject of jails from the centre list to the control of provincial governments and
hence further reduced the possibility of uniform implementation of a prison policy at the national
level. State governments thus have their own rules for the day to day administration of prisons,
upkeep and maintenance of prisoners, and prescribing procedures.

In 1951, the Government of India invited the United Nations expert on correctional work, Dr.
W.C. Reckless, to undertake a study on prison administration and to suggest policy reform. His
report titled 'Jail Administration in India' made a plea for transforming jails into reformation
centers. He also recommended the revision of outdated jail manuals. In 1952, the Eighth
Conference of the Inspector Generals of Prisons also supported the recommendations of Dr.
Reckless regarding prison reform. Accordingly, the Government of India appointed the All India
Jail Manual Committee in 1957 to prepare a model prison manual. The committee submitted its
report in 1960. The report made forceful pleas for formulating a uniform policy and latest
methods relating to jail administration, probation, after-care, juvenile and remand homes,
certified and reformatory school, borstals and protective homes, suppression of immoral traffic
etc. The report also suggested amendments in the Prison Act 1894 to provide a legal base for
correctional work.

THE MODEL PRISON MANUAL

The Committee prepared the Model Prison Manual (MPM) and presented it to the Government
of India in 1960 for implementation. The MPM 1960 is the guiding principle on the basis of
which the present Indian prison management is governed.

On the lines of the Model Prison Manual, the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, in
1972, appointed a working group on prisons. It brought out in its report the need for a national
policy on prisons. It also made an important recommendation with regard to the classification
and treatment of offenders and laid down principles.

THE MULLA COMMITTEE

In 1980, the Government of India set-up a Committee on Jail Reform, under the chairmanship of
Justice A. N. Mulla. The basic objective of the Committee was to review the laws, rules and
regulations keeping in view the overall objective of protecting society and rehabilitating
offenders. The Mulla Committee submitted its report in1983.

JUVENILE JUSTICE ACT, 1986

In the year 1986, a Juvenile Justice Act was enacted and observation homes, special homes, and
juvenile homes were constituted, where the neglected children and juvenile delinquent can be
admitted and the juvenile delinquent cannot be tried with the non juvenile delinquent offenders
and cannot be kept within the prison. Many provisions were made regarding the orders that could
be passed against the juvenile offenders and what cannot be passed against the juvenile
offenders. Under this Act juvenile means a boy below the age of 16 years and a girl below the
age of 18 years.

THE KRISHNA IYER COMMITTEE

In 1987, the Government of India appointed the Justice Krishna Iyer Committee to undertake a
study on the situation of women prisoners in India. It has recommended induction of more
women in the police force in view of their special role in tackling women and child offenders.

SUBSEQUENT DEVELOPMENTS

Following a Supreme Court direction (1996) in Ramamurthy v. State of Karnataka to bring

about uniformity nationally of prison laws and prepare a draft model prison manual, a committee
was set up in the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D). The jail manual
drafted by the committee was accepted by the Central government and circulated to State
governments in late December 2003.

In 1999, a draft Model Prisons Management Bill (The Prison Administration and Treatment of
Prisoners Bill- 1998) was circulated to replace the Prison Act 1894 by the Government of India
to the respective states but this bill is yet to be finalized. In 2000, the Ministry of Home Affairs,
Government of India, appointed a Committee for the Formulation of a Model Prison Manual
which would be a pragmatic prison manual, in order to improve the Indian prison management
and administration. The All India Committee on Jail Reforms (1980-1983), the Supreme Court
of India and the Committee of Empowerment of Women (2001- 2002) have all highlighted the
need for a comprehensive revision of the prison laws but the pace of any change has been
disappointing (Banerjea 2005). The Supreme Court of India has however expanded the horizons
of prisoner’s rights jurisprudence through a series of judgments. In its judgments on various
aspects of prison administration, the Supreme Court of India has laid down three broad principles
regarding imprisonment and custody.

Firstly, a person in prison does not become a non-person;

Secondly, a person in prison is entitled to all human rights within the limitations of
imprisonment; and,

Lastly there is no justification for aggravating the suffering already inherent in the process of
incarceration. The existing statutes which have a bearing on regulation and management of
prisons in the country are:

 The Indian Penal Code, 1860.

 The Prisons Act, 1894.
 The Prisoners Act, 1900.
 The Identification of Prisoners Act, 1920.
 Constitution of India, 1950
 The Transfer of Prisoners Act, 1950.
 The Representation of People’s Act, 1951.
 The Prisoners (Attendance in Courts) Act, 1955.
 The Probation of Offenders Act, 1958.
 The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.
 The Mental Health Act, 1987.
 The Juvenile Justice (Care & Protection) Act, 2000.
 The Repatriation of Prisoners Act, 2003.

THE DARKER SHADES OF THE PRISON

A. Violence

Prisons are often dangerous places for those they hold. Group violence is also endemic and riots
are common. In a three-day riot and stand-off in the Chappra District prison in Bihar towards the
end of March, 2002, 6 prisoners died in the shootout that occurred when commandos of the Bihar
Military Police were called in to quell the riots.

Incidents of internal violence are there where meek and first time offenders are tortured and
made to do all menial tasks for their senior inmates. Failure of compliance many times increases
their woes.

B. Criminalizing Effect of a prison

There are severe chances of contamination of the first time, circumstantial & young offenders
into full-fledged criminals being huddled with hard core criminals of heinous crimes in the same
prisons. It is an oft given quote that prisons are universities of crime, where people go in as
under-graduates and come out with Ph.Ds. in crime. There should be scientific and psychological
classification of inmates/prisoners. The courts in Delhi have taken leap bounding step in this
regard by creation of separate Family Courts. As for the first time the subjects of family disputes
are taken at distance from the regular criminals, this is the first step in avoiding their mixing with
the other criminals.

C. Overcrowding

Prisons are overcrowded and there is shortage of adequate space. Congestion in jails, particularly
among under trials has been a matter of concern. Majority of the inmates constitute those who
are awaiting trial.

To decrease the prison overcrowding the under-trial population has to be reduced drastically. The
three wings of the criminal justice system would have to act in harmony to achieve this goal.
D. Sexual Offence: Prisons are institutions that lodge people of same sex together. Being
removed from their natural partners, forces the prisoners to look for alternative ways to satisfy
their sexual urges. This often finds vent in homosexual abuses where young and feeble are
targeted. Resistance leads to aggravated violence. At times, prisoners are subjected to massive
homosexual gang-rapes. Apart from causing severe physical injuries and spreading sexually
transmitted diseases including HIV/AIDS, it also induces severe trauma in prisoners forcing
some of them to commit suicide. The victims carry a lot of anger and frustration in themselves,
which they take out on the next innocent person.

E. Corruption and Extortion

Extortion by prison staff, and its less aggressive corollary, guard corruption, is common in
prisons around the world. The guards exercise substantial power over the inmates and the lust for
easy money allures them for these evils. In exchange for contraband or special treatment, inmates
supplement guards' salaries with bribes. There are incidents where powerful inmates enjoyed
cellular phones, rich diets, and comfortable lodgings even in prisons.

F. Health Problems

When the common citizen of country cannot enjoy the safe and healthy condition it is farce to
think of the same in the prisons meant for criminals. Most of the prisoners already come from
socio-economically disadvantaged sections of the society where diseases, malnutrition and
absence of medical services are prevalent. When such people are cramped in with each other in
unhealthy conditions, infectious and communicable diseases spread easily.

G. Drug Abuse

Besides murder, attempt to murder and other serious anti-personal offences, people booked under
the anti-drug laws constitute a substantial percentage of the prison population. Being in prison
and cut off from the free world, sees an increased desperation to get the banned substances to
satisfy their addictions to drugs.

Since prison is an environment where there is a captive, bored, largely depressed population
eager for release from the grim everyday reality, this also increases the danger of fresh prisoners
being inducted into drug abuse.
These are some of the grave issues that prisoners face inside the prison complex. Over the time
mounting up of every accused in prisons would require creation of more prisons, but there is
only limited fund and resources that the government is allowed to spend on such infrastructural
requirements.

H. Mental illness of Prisoners

It has been estimated that the prevalence of severe mental illness in jails and prisons is three to
five times higher than that in the community (Lamb et al 1998). Mental illness may develop
during imprisonment or be present even before admission to the prison. Among people who are
biologically prone to mental disorders, the stress of being in prison can precipitate the illness.

Such disorders can also develop due to the prevailing prison conditions (structural and social
factors such as overcrowding, dirty and depressive environment, poor food quality, inadequate
medical care, lack of meaningful activity, enforced solitude or lack of privacy, isolation from
social networks, etc), due to torture or other human rights violations. In addition, prisoners are
deprived of their liberty leading to deprivation of choices taken for granted in the outside
community: they can no longer freely decide where to live, with whom to associate and how to
fill their time, and must submit to discipline imposed by others.

Communication with families and friends is often limited. Moreover, prisoners may have guilt
feelings about their offences and anxiety about how much of their former lives will remain intact
after release in addition to the stigma associated with having been in a prison.

THE SUGGESTED PRISON REFORMS

Nowadays imprisonment does not mean to break the stones or grind the chakkies but the sense
has changed. Undoubtedly, the condition of modern prison system is far better than that in the
past but still much remains to be done in the direction of prison reforms for humane treatment of
prisoners. The following modification in prison administration can be suggested for improving
the efficiency of these institutions:

 The maintenance of prison establishment is an expensive affair. It is in fact an burden on

the public. Therefore the offender should be confined to the prison for only a minimum
period which is absolutely necessary for their custody. The elimination of long term
sentences would reduce undue burden on prison expenditure. It is further suggested that
where the term of imprisonment exceeds one year, a remission of one month or so per
year be granted to the inmate so as to enable him home town and meet his relatives. This
will help in his rehabilitation and after his release he can face the outside world
courageously casting aside the stigma attached to him on account of imprisonment.
 The women prisoners should be treated more generously and allowed to meet their
children frequently. This will keep them mentally fit and respond favorably to the
treatment methods. The woman who fall prey to sex offence should be treated with
sympathy and their illegitimate children should be assured an upright life in the society.
Women prisoners should also be allowed to meet their sons and daughters more
frequently, particularly the attitude in this regard should be more liberal in case of under-
trial prisoners,3 Women prisoners should be handled only by women police or prison
officials. The idea of setting up separate women jails exclusively for women prisoners,
however does not seem to be compatible keeping in view the heavy expenditure involved
in the process.
 The prisoners belonging to peasant class should be afforded an opportunity to go to their
fields during harvesting season on temporary ‘ticket on leave’ so that they can look after
their agriculture. This would enable them to keep in touch with their occupation and
provide means of living to the other members of their family. Thus the unity of family
life can be maintained which would help rehabilitation of the prisoner after his release
from jail.
 The existing rules to the restrictions and scrutiny of postal mail of inmates should be
liberalised. This shall infuse trust and faith among inmates for the prison officials.
 The prison legislation should make provision for remedy of compensation to prisoner
who are wrongfully detained or suffer injuries to callous or negligent acts of the prison
personnel. It is gratifying to note that in recent decades the Supreme Court has shown
deep concern for prisoners right to justice and fair treatment and requires prison officials
to initiate measures so that prisoners basic right are not violated and they are not
subjected to harassment and inhuman conditions of living.4

3
Francis Coralie Mullin V. Union Territory Delhi, AIR 2981 SC 746.
4
Sanjay Suri V. Delhi Administration, (1988) Cr. LJ 705.
 The education in prisons should be beyond three R’s and there should be greater
emphasis on vocational training of inmates. This will provide them honorable means to
earn their livelihood after release from jail. The facilities of lessons through
correspondence courses should be extended to inmates who are desirous of taking up
higher or advanced studies. Women prisoners should be provided training in tailoring,
doll making, embroidery etc. The prisoners who are well educated should not be
subjected to rigorous imprisonment, instead they should be engaged in some mental cum
manual work.5
 On completion of term of sentence, the inmates should be placed under an intensive
‘After Care’. The process of After Care will offer them adequate opportunities to
overcome their inferior complex and save them from being ridiculed as convicts. Many
non penal institutions such as Seva Sadans, Nari Niketans and Reformation Houses are at
work in different places in India to take up the arduous task of After Care and
rehabilitation of criminals.
 There is dire need to bring about a change in the public attitude towards the prison
institutions and their management. This is possible through an intensive publicity
programmes using the media of press, platform and propaganda will. It will certainly
create a right climate in society to accept the released prisoners with sympathy and
benevolence without any hatred or distrust for them. The media men should be allowed to
enter into prison so that their misunderstanding about prison administration may be
cleared.

CASE LAW

In Prabhu Dutta v. Union of India, the petitioner a newspaper correspondent filed a petition to
interview two condemned prisoners Ranga and Billa for which permission was refused to herby
Tihar Jail authorities. The Supreme Court allowed the interview upholding right of the press to
have access to prison inmates.

 Last but not the least, the existing Prison Act, 1894 which is more than a century old,
needs to be thoroughly revised and even re-stated in view of the changed socioeconomic

5
Mohd. Gaisuddin V. State of Andhra Pradesh, AIR 1977 SC 1925.
and political conditions of India over the years. Many of the provisions of this Act have
become obsolete and redundant.

CASE LAW

The Supreme Court, in its landmark decision in Ramamurthy v. State of Karnataka,6 has
identified nine major problems which need immediate attention for implementing prison reforms.
The court observed that the present prison system is affected with major problems of;

a) Overcrowding b) Delay in trial c) Torture and ill treatment d) Neglect of health and hygiene
e)Insufficient food and inadequate clothing f) Prison vices g) Deficiency in communication
h)Streamlining of jail visits and i) Management of open air prisons.

TECHNIQUES OF PRISON REFORMS

The desired goal of reformation or rehabilitation of criminals is achieved through various tools
and techniques in the institution of jail. Some such tools and techniques of prison reforms are as
follows:

Probation

The word Probation is a very significant tool of reformative penology; it is basically a period
during which the convict ordered to undergo sentence remains, instead of being in prison, under
supervision. The release of the convict on probation serves as a reformative treatment plan
prescribed by the convicting court and in the course of this treatment, the conviction on
probation lives within his community and modulates his own life under conditions imposed by
the court and remains under the supervision of a probation officer.

Parole

One of the most important but controversial devices for reducing pressure on prison institutions
is the selective release of prisoners on parole. Parole has a dual purpose, namely protecting
society and at the same tome bringing about the rehabilitation of the offenders. The parole
system is an excellent way to allow prisoners to rehabilitate and get in touch with the outside
world. Parole is a legal sanction that lets a prisoner leave the prison for a short duration, on the
6
(1997) 2 SCC 642.
condition that she/he behaves appropriately after release and reports back to the prison on
termination of the parole period. The conditional release from prison under parole may begin
anytime after the inmate has completed at least one- third of the total term of his sentence but
before his final discharge.

Release on parole is a part of the reformative process and is expected to provide opportunity for
the prisoner to transform himself into useful citizen. Parole is thus a grant of partial liberty or
lessening of restrictions to a convict prisoner, but release on parole does not, in any way, change
the status of the prisoner.

Parole is a penal device which seeks to humanize prison justice. It enables the prisoners to return
to the outside world on certain conditions. The main object of the parole as stated in the Model
Prison Manual is:

 To enable the inmate to maintain continuity with his family life and deal with family
matters
 To save the inmate from the evil effects of continuous prison life.
 To enable the inmate to retain self confidence and active interest in life.7

Furlough

Furlough is another reformatory tool that is often confused with parole. Undoubtedly, parole and
furlough are reformative tools of the penal system but both are different. Furlough must be
granted to the prisoner periodically irrespective of any particular reason. The object behind this
tool is merely to enable him to retain family and social ties and avoid negative effects of a
continuous prison life. The period of furlough is treated as remission of sentence.

Pardon

The term pardon as an act of mercy by which the prisoner is absolved from the penalty which
was imposed on him, the grant of pardon may be absolute or conditional. In India, there are
certain provisions which are contained in Article 72 and 161 of the Indian constitution provides
that the President of India and the Governors of the states respectively are empowered to grant
pardon, reprieve or commute the sentence of any convict.
7
Bhikhabhai Devshi V. State of Gujarat, AIR 1987 Guj. 136.
Open Prisons

All prisoners are not dangerous criminals and not even some of those who have committed
serious offences. Open prisons in one form or another have been in existence in India for a long
time. In India, there are 44 open prisons and more than half of them exist in the State of
Rajasthan (23 in number). Open prisons have developed better in some states of India than in
others for a variety of reasons. Prisoners serving life sentence on the basis of their good conduct
are shifted to the open prisons.

The Open Prisons restore the dignity of the individual and give a sense of selfconfidence and
self-reliance by instilling a sense of responsibility in the individual. Several States in India have
such opens prisons.

The positive effects of open prisons are –

 It lessens the damage to offenders and society

 It reduces the overcrowding in prisons
 It costs far less for the State to have people living in open prison than to pay for their
upkeep in the jails and finally
 It inculcates a sense of social responsibility towards family and society

The appreciation of open prison as an effective institution for rehabilitation of offenders have
been highlighted by Supreme Court in this case

CASE LAWS

In Dharambeer v State of U.P. the court observed that the institution of open prisons has certain
advantages in the context of young offenders who could be protected from some of the well-
known vices to which they were subjected to in ordinary jails. However, the concept of open
prisons needs to be given more publicity in our country to bring the focus of society to reformed
offenders. Apart from agricultural based open prisons it is suggested that there should be open
prisons with an industrial / manufacturing base as well. Open Prisons for women should also be
encouraged.

Sunil Batra v. Delhi Administration AIR 1978 SC1675

The Apex court held that Prisoners are entitled to all fundamental rights which are consistent
with their incarceration.

Emphasizing the need for humane treatment of prisoners and protection of their basic human
rights, the Supreme court in Sunil Batra II (1983) 3 SCC 488, observed as follows :-
“Fundamental rights do not flee the persons as he enters the prison although they may suffer
shrinkage necessitated by incarceration.”

Outlining the substantive and procedural rights to which the prisoners are entitled, the Apex
court said: “Infliction may take many protean forms apart from physical assaults. Pushing the
prisoner into a solitary cell, denial of necessary amenity and more dreadful sometimes, transfer
to a distant prison where visits or society of friends or relations may be snapped, allotment of
degrading labor, assigning him to a desperate or tough gang and the like, may be punitive in
effect. Every such affiliation or abridgment is an infraction of liberty or life in its wider sense
and cannot be sustained.”

D. K. Basu v. State of West Bengal 50 AIR 1997 SC 610

It was held that, the information of arrest is required to be given to the friend or relative of
accused immediately, while he is arrested. The purpose is very clear that, by this communication
the relative or friends of accused can start the efforts to know the facts of accused, to obtain the
legal advice and take the defense against an application for remand and do the necessary
preparation for bail.

CONCLUSION

To ensure good discipline and administration, an initial classification must be made to separate
male from females, the young from the adults, convicted from the unconvinced prisoners, civil
from criminal prisoners and from casual from habitual prisoners. The main object of prison
labour is prevention of crime and reformation of the offenders. And the other main object was to
engage them so as to prevent mental damage and to enable them to contribute to the cost of their
maintenance. The under trail prisoners constitute a majority of population in prison than
convicted prisoners. The under trial prisoners are presumed to be innocent and most of them are
discharged or acquitted after immeasurable physical and mental loss caused to them by detention
due to delay in investigation and trial.

The courts have in recent years been giving serious thought to the of human rights of prisoners
and have, on that ground, interfered with the exercise of powers of superintendents of jails in
respect of measures for safe custody, good order and discipline. Research into crime and the
criminal is still in its infancy. The immediate need of research is to evaluate the existing methods
of treatment and to suggest new approaches to the prevention of crime. The value of probation,
open prisons, parole and home leave as reformatory measures need to be established.

Prisoners constitute important institutions which protects the society from criminals. The
obstacles in prison reforms are resource allocation, the deterrent functions of punishment, the
notion of rehabilitation, and internal control.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

 Prof. N.V. Paranjape: Criminology & Penology with Victimology, Central Law
Publications, Allahabad, Fifteenth Edition Reprinted 2012.
 www.indiankanoon.org
 www.grkarelawlibrary.yolasite.com, Special Research on Historical Aspect of Prison
Reforms in India as well as Prison Laws in India.