Crimes and punishments

This compilation of writings on India's prison ecosystem has many hits but some glaring misses

The general public’s understanding of the justice delivery system revolves around the binary of “crime” and “punishment”. It is this mindset that encourages people to hate the criminal, not the crime.

For several decades, researchers, journalists, rights activists and legal scholars have been presenting arguments, suggesting frameworks, and implementing systems of change to humanise the prison ecosystem and ensure that prisoners get to exercise basic rights guaranteed in the Constitution. This book is a compilation of such works. It is particularly timely given the Supreme Court’s recent pronouncements on under-trial prisoners and their right to life.

Consisting of ten essays, the anthology