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VIOLATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS OF PRISON INMATES IN INDIA

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RABINDRABHARATI JOURNAL OF PHILOSOPHY
ISSN : 0973-0087
VIOLATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS OF PRISON INMATES IN INDIA

Khoda Meena, Asst. Professor, Department of Legal Studies, Arunachal University of Studies,
Namsai, Arunachal Pradesh (India).

ABSTRACT
Prisoners' Rights is a serious issue to consider. They are human beings as well, but many time
prisoners are not treated as a human. In India, inmates are subjected to inhumane treatment.
Inhumane conditions include ill treatment, many fire hazards, health issue, inadequate food, and
medical facilities, and a lack of functioning toilets, sanitation, custodial torture, and deaths and many
more. The system of prison administration is not function properly and because of that there is
violation of prisoner’s rights and their fundamental rights which is given under Indian Constitution.
This paper is to study and highlights the system of prisoner’s administration, violation of prisoners,
constitutional rights and Human rights, infringement of prisoner’s rights.
.
Keywords- Violation, Prisoner, Rights, Indian Constitution, Human Rights, Remedies.

Introduction
Before we can get into the meat of the issue, we must first define what the term "prisoner" means. A
prisoner is defined as "a person deprived of liberty and kept under involuntary restraint, confinement,
or custody”. A prison is considered as a place where the prisoners deprived their personal freedom
and have freedom with certain limitation. In criminal justice system prison plays very crucial role.
Prison system may vary from country to country. Why do we have imprisonment system? The main
objective of imprisonment system is to protect the society from any crime. Every country is under
legal duty to protect its subject and to provide their rights which is recognized by the Indian
Constitution and other legislation. The word prison doesn’t means to use any force or to feel them
cage. Basically prison is a place where those culprits through legal process are kept for safe custody
while in trial proceedings and for punishment after verdict of the case. It’s just a place where
offenders kept for trials and ultimate punishment. But as we know that all people must treat. All
prisoners must be treated with all respect due to their dignity and value as human beings. The rule
must be administered fairly without any discrimination on grounds of race, colour, sex, language,
place of birth, etc. though the prisoners have ceased their freedom of liberty and live under
confinement or custody as per law but still they have various rights which cannot be infringe . Our
Indian Constitution Provides them various basic rights as a human being such as rights to speedy
trail, rights to fair, right to have legal aid, medical aid, rights to have food, right to have advocates
and water and etc.

Literature Review
Pandey, A (2019, October 30) found in his study that torture has long been common and pervasive
practice in India. It has spread throughout the world unhindered and unfettered becoming a normal
and legitimate practice. Torture is applied not only to the accused but also to legitimate petitioners,
complaints or informants in the course of criminal investigations, confession extracting and
punishment by law enforcement agencies. This practice is cruel, inhumane, barbaric and degrading
and is gravely offensive to the dignity of the individual human being.
Sehgal, D.R (2020 November 6) studied that anytime the legistive and executive branches have made
mistakes, the judiciary has been played very crucial role or defending the rights of inmates and has
rescued a number of people.
Vaccine, L. (2022) Provisions of Prisoners Right in India suggested in his study that The Indian jail
system must be supplied with classrooms where inmates can learn new things, as well as with
physical and mental development activities, since these will help to reform the prisoner, which is
what our society, wishes to happen to inmates. A criminal should be taught how to rehabilitate and
modify his thoughts while incarcerated. The purpose of a prison should not be to torture inmates. To

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improve the state of Indian jails, a number of issues include overcrowding, sanitation, a shortage of
police, and a lack of teaching should be addressed.

Research Gap
There has been numerous literature review of research on Prisoners rights, lacking of function of
system, inhuman treatment of prisoners inmates, and not enough machinery system for the rights of
prisoners of India. Paridhi Varma (2018) “Rights of Prisoners under Indian Law” focuses on the
issues that are most important for providing effective treatment to various populations within the
prison system. Mahilika abrar (2020) rights of prisoners and major judgments on it She provided a
thorough explanation of the fundamental rights that Indian inmates are entitled to as well as the
significant court rulings that have upheld those rights. Mohamad Zahir moqimy (2021) “rights of
Prisoners in India the purpose of (Rights of inmates in India) is to examine how inmates are
classified, their rights, and the history of prisons in India. Additionally, the primary issues are the
rights that Prisoners are guaranteed under Articles 14, 19, and 21 of the Indian Constitution. Vijeta
Kumari (2022) “An Analysis of Prisoner’s Rights in India” studied the rights provided by National
and International Law for the prisoners and their implication.

Research Objective
1) To study the present scenario of the Indian prison System
2) To discuss the violation of Human rights of prisoners
3) To highlights the various legal and constitutional rights of prisoners.

Research Methodology
The present study is based on secondary data which has been taken from various research studies,
articles, journals, case study, Indian census report, and reports of National Commission Report,
National Campaign against Torture Report etc.

LAWS RELATING TO RIGHTS OF PRISONERS

Since a long time, the Supreme Court of India has been deliberating with both government central
government and state governments to improve the bad condition of the prisoners, which is worst due
to jail overcrowding, a lack of training facilities, personnel, and bad infrastructure, among other
things. As a result, it is obligatory to invoke the inmates' rights and constitutional safeguards. Such
rights are a nullity and betrayal of human faith in the criminal justice delivery system unless they are
spread and applied in each corner and the entire perimeter of the prism. There are various rights
given by Indian Law for the prisoners of India these are as follows-:

RIGHT TO PRIVACY
One of the most important rights that Indian individuals can exercise is the right to privacy.
According to Article 21 of the Indian Constitution, they are an integral part of the right to life and the
right to personal liberty. Through different court rulings over the years, they have also been made
relevant to detainees and offenders. The right to privacy with regard to search and seizure was first
brought up in the 1950s, and the top court declared at the time that neither search nor seizure could
be construed as violating Article 19 (1)(f) of the Indian constitution, nor does a simple search in and
of itself violate or impair a person's right to property.

RIGHT TO FREE LEGAL AID

The term "legal aid" refers to the provision of legal services to individuals who cannot afford them in
order to prevent injustice. According to Justice P.N. Bhagwati, providing legal aid entails making
arrangements in society so that the task of administering justice is made simple to access and is not
beyond the means of those who need to use it for enforcement, i.e. the poor, illiterate, and even
prisoners should be able to approach the courts, and their ignorance and poverty should not be an
obstacle in the way of their obtaining justice from the court. Everyone who doesn't have access to the

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courts should be able to receive legal aid. There are Legal Services that offer legal aid. As we know
that free legal aid should be given to every prisoners who are not able to hire counselor for justice
but in ground reality we can see that free legal aid is not available to the prisoner because they are
behind the bars.
Article 39A of the Indian Constitution imposes States to ensure that the functioning of the legal
system promotes justice on the basis of equal opportunity. It also makes it mandatory, in particular,
to provide free legal aid through appropriate legislation or schemes or in any other way to ensure that
opportunities to secure justice are not denied to any citizen because of their financial situation or
other disabilities. The main object is to advance equality in the legal system. Thought article 30A
comes under Directive Principle of State policy which is not enforceable but it is enforceable under
Legal Service Authority Act 1987. Even also under Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 section 303
and section 304 mention the provision of legal aid to prisoners.
In D.K. Basu vs. State of West Bengal, AIR 1997 SC 610, the Supreme Court expanded the scope of
Article 21 of the Indian Constitution by stating that it encompasses the right to free legal help at state
expense. In Dipak Shubashchandra Mehta v. Central Bureau of Investigation, 2012 AIR (SC) 949, it
was stated that when under trial inmates are held in jail custody indefinitely, Article 21 of the
constitution is violated.

RIGHT TO MEDICAL CARE

In India, overcrowding in prison is one of the reasons for hygiene. Due to lack of place of inmates
many prisoners face problem. There is no proper hygiene system in jail. Prisoners in India are not
even examined by medical expert for any disease though the provision is there when they begin their
serving punishments. Infected prisoner who has high risk must keep separate from other prisoners
but they keep them all together. Clean environment is our fundamental rights. Every citizen must
have clean environment. No one can infringe rights from citizen. When we talk about clean
environment is also include prisoners. Every prisoner has a right to have clean environment.

RIGHT AGAINST SOLITARY CONFINEMENT

The general term "solitary detention" refers to an individual prisoner's custody, typically at the state's
discretion, with only infrequent access by anyone else. It means full separation from any person. In
solitary confinement no one is allowed to visit the prisoners. Most of the time torture by law
enforcement or investigative agencies is accepted as a standard practice for verifying criminal
information, accomplice knowledge, and confession extract. Solitary confinement has various
repercussions as a punishing practice in the legal system. Both physical and mental illnesses impact
the prisoners who are held in solitary confinement. Prisoners cannot put into solitary confinement as
this is against Article 21 of Indian Constitution unless it is required by the law. Article 22 stipulates
protections against arrest and detention in the situations, stating that no person who is apprehended
shall be held in custody without being informed of the reasons for such detainment and that a lawyer
of his choosing shall not refuse the right of consultation and self-defense.

RIGHT TO LIVE WITH HUMAN DIGNITY

Due to their inherent worth as people, all prisoners must be treated with respect. The regulations
must be administered fairly, without regard to someone's race, colour, sex, language, place of birth,
or any other factor. One of the fundamental freedoms guaranteed by Article 21 of the Indian
Constitution is the right to live in dignity. It implies that everyone has the inalienable right to live a
life of dignity free from prejudice. They have the right to ask for respect on an equal basis from both
the state and other people. Inhuman treatment by the police must be stop.

RIGHT AGAINST SELF- INCRIMINATION

Article 20(3) prohibits self-incrimination it establishes the fundamental principle that no one accused
of a crime may be forced to testify against him. It simply means that, absent evidence to the
contrary, the accused is presumed innocent under criminal law. The protection provided by Article

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20(3) only applies when the accused is forced to provide the evidence, not when the accused offers
the evidence voluntarily.

RIGHT TO EDUCATION
Every prisoner have a right to get newspaper, books, to read and to write and etc .The reforms in
India have undergone many adjustments and transformations, giving all those who are incarcerated
or imprisoned the opportunity to request fulfillment of their legal obligation to receive an education.
This change, which has been made mandatory for adolescents and women in educational facilities, is
crucial so that they can develop their personalities while incarcerated.. The state must consider
education as an essential action that must be properly adopted and implemented for all offenders.

FEW LANDMARK CASES

The Indian Supreme Court has significantly expanded the application of Article 21 and ruled that it
will be accessible to defend prisoners' fundamental rights and implement jail reforms. Although the
Indian Constitution does not specifically mention provisions relating to prisoners' rights, it was
determined in the case of T.V. Vatheeswaran v. Tamil Nadu 1983 SCC 68 that both convicts and free
people are entitled to the protections of Articles 14, 19, and 21.
The Delhi Administration Constitution's Articles 14, 19, and 21 are retained and will not be taken
away from inmates in one of the landmark cases, Sunil Batra.
In the case of Marie Andre Supreme Court of India, which included the Tihar Jail, Justice Krishna
Aiyer ruled that incarceration doesn't mean the end of fundamental rights and that the court will
decline to recognized the full range of section III of the Indian Constitution, which is enjoyed by a
free person. He added that jail serves as a tool for rehabilitation for all inmates as well as retribution
or deterrence for those who break the law.
The court ruled in the case of the State of Andhra Pradesh v. Challa Ramkrishna Reddy that a
prisoner is entitled to all fundamental rights unless those rights are restricted by the Indian
constitution.

FINDINGS
The main objective of the Indian prison system or criminal system is to protect each and every
individual person from any crime. Our law doesn’t only provide rights and safeguard to the society
but also they provide certain rights and safeguard to the prisoners or the accused person within the
jurisdiction of the law. But sometimes justice didn’t deliver to the prisoners inmates. Justice is not
beyond the walls of the prison in India. Prisons should be outfitted with learning facilities where
inmates can learn new things, as well as with physical and mental development activities, since these
will help to reform the prisoner, which is what our society wants to happen to inmates. A criminal
should be taught how to rehabilitate and modify his thoughts while incarcerated. The purpose of a
prison should not be to torture inmates. To improve the state of Indian jails, a number of issues
include overcrowding, sanitation, a shortage of police, and a lack of teaching should be addressed.

CONCLUSION
It could be said that whenever the legislative and executive branches have erred, the country's
judiciary has been instrumental in defending the rights of detainees. It has repeatedly protected the
prisoners' fundamental rights and served as their savior. Through judicial activism, it has fully
utilized its authority and consistently created new solutions and instruments to defend people's rights
to life and personal freedom. But there is still a lot to be done. In this regard, widespread access to
inmates' human rights information, extensive media coverage of prisoners' rights, and round-the-
clock prison surveillance may be some of the keys to protecting prisoners' rights and ensuring their
secure environment. Even though India’s Prison system has undergone major improvements since
antiquity, there is always room for improvement today. The situation has not considerably improved
despite the numerous prison reforms that India has put into place.

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