Indian Jails

Forensic probe all set to boost conviction rate in serious crime cases

With BNS making such investigation mandatory in serious crime cases that attract seven years' imprisonment or above, more and more criminals are likely to be brought to justice in the next five years

Caste-based labour division in prisons is unconstitutional: Supreme Court

Asking the marginalised to clean and sweep 'while allowing the high castes to do cooking' is discriminatory, it says

SC says caste-based discrimination in jail manuals unconstitutional

Apex court termed 'unconstitutional' rules in jail manuals advocating caste-based work

Jaipur Police registers FIR in connection with Lawrence Bishnoi's interview

Jaipur Police has registered an FIR in connection with an interview of notorious gangster Lawrence Bishnoi that was aired on a news channel in March last year. The FIR was registered in Jaipur following directions from the High court of Punjab and Haryana, Jaipur police commissioner Biju George Joseph told PTI. The SIT formed by Punjab Police to investigate the matter found that Bishnoi was in Jaipur jail when the interview was done, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Jaipur East) Tejaswini Gautam said. The SIT submitted its status report in the high court of Punjab and Haryana, stating that the jurisdiction of the case was in Jaipur, following which the high court issued directions to register the case in Jaipur. Jaipur central jail falls in the jurisdiction of the Lalkothi police station here. Assistant Commissioner of Police (Gandhi Nagar) Narayan Kumar Bajiya said the case related to the interview was registered on Friday. "The case will be investigated and further course of acti

Assam mulls withdrawing 81K petty and minor cases, cabinet approves SOP

The Assam cabinet decided to amend the standard operating procedure (SOP) for the withdrawal of petty and minor cases in subordinate courts to allow time for serious offences, and decongest jails by releasing undertrial prisoners. This will lead to the withdrawal of 81,000 petty and minor cases till March 2024, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said after the cabinet meeting on Friday. The council of ministers also approved the proposal to establish a Centre of Excellence in aerospace, defence, automotive and electric vehicle industries and others by Dassault Systems Private Ltd, he said. Dassault will invest Rs 200 crore along with external monitoring, advisory and implementation support, while the state government will put in Rs 40 crore in the project. As a part of this initiative, 3,000 engineering graduates will be trained in robotics, aerospace, defence, AI and more, Sarma said. The cabinet also approved the procurement of 100 mw of wind-solar hybrid power from NTPC, which

SC directs states, UTs to provide complete information on open prisons

The Supreme Court has directed several states and Union Territories (UTs) to provide complete information with regard to the functioning of open prisons within four weeks. Semi-open or open prisons allow convicts to work outside the premises during the day to earn a livelihood and return in the evening. The concept was introduced to assimilate the convicts with society and reduce psychological pressure as they faced difficulties in leading normal lives outside. A bench of Justices B R Gavai and K V Viswanathan was informed by senior advocate K Parameshwar, who is assisting the top court as an amicus curiae in a matter related to congestion in jails, that several states and UTs have not yet filed their responses. The bench noted that states and UTs like Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Punjab have not yet submitted the qualitative/quantitative charts despite circulation of a questionnaire seeking information in respect of the status and functioning of open correctional ...

Kejriwal modern day freedom fighter, paid price for serving people: Gahlot

Delhi Home Minister Kailash Gahlot hoisted the national flag at Chhatrasal stadium on Independence Day, the event marked by the absence of the Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who was dubbed by him as a "modern day freedom fighter". Gahlot said he was distressed that the elected Delhi chief minister could not hoist the flag because he is in jail. "Standing under this flag, I can say proudly that Arvind Kejriwal is a modern day freedom fighter because he accepted the punishment to work for the people of Delhi by going to the jail, but did not bow down or break in front of the anti-democratic forces," he said. The country did not get freedom just so an elected chief minister could be put in jail; it got it to defeat illiteracy, poverty, unemployment, and diseases, he said. Kejriwal began the effort to free the country from these ills, by providing quality education, healthcare, free electricity and world class transport facilities to the people in Delhi, he asserted. Kejriwal was ...

Inmates of Sambhajinagar prison get smart cards to talk with kin, lawyers

Authorities have distributed smart cards to nearly 650 inmates from the Harsul Central Jail in Maharashtra's Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar city to help them stay in touch with their family members and lawyers, an official said on Wednesday. The smart cards will allow the inmates to make three free calls, each for six minutes, a week, a district official said in a release. Many families cannot come to meet their prisoner relatives in jail due to financial conditions. Therefore, to connect the prisoners with their families (and lawyers), smart cards have been provided to 650 prisoners at Harsul jail, the release said. However, the release did not specify if the inmates can call only those numbers shared in advance with the jail authorities or any number they choose. The facility calling booth has been made available on the prison premises for the prisoners as well as those under judicial custody, it said. The Harsul correctional set-up is one of the nine central jails in Maharashtra.

Inmates can sign legal papers: DG (prisons) over Kejriwal issuing orders

With the AAP maintaining that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is running his government from Tihar jail, Director General (prisons) Sanjay Baniwal on Monday said an inmate can sign legal papers and personal complaints during his judicial custody but underlined that documents signed should not be political in nature. In an interaction with PTI editors at its headquarters here, Baniwal also said no distinction is made in the treatment meted out to the inmates and it is ensured they get the same basic right. Earlier in the day, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann met Kejriwal in jail and alleged that he was not getting the amenities even a hardcore criminal is allowed in Tihar. Responding to this, Baniwal said, "There is no distinction between a hardcore or a normal criminal. In the jail manual, there is no distinction between the inmates. Every inmate has basic rights and it is my duty to ensure that. These are being ensured to everyone." Nobody is accorded special treatment and there

24 out of 33 jails in Chhattisgarh overcrowded, govt figures reveal

Jails in Chhattisgarh are overcrowded as more than 18,000 inmates are lodged there against the existing capacity of 14,383, as per the figures shared by the state government. The state has five central, 20 district and eight sub jails, Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sharma, who also holds the home portfolio, stated in a written reply in the assembly on Thursday to a query from BJP MLA Sampat Agrawal. Twenty four of these jails, including all five central, 14 district and five sub jails, are overcrowded. In the remaining nine jails, inmates are less than their capacities, according to the figures. "As against the capacity of 14,383, there are 18,442 inmates lodged in the central, district and sub jails as on January 31 this year," the deputy CM said. The central jail in Raipur has 3,076 prisoners as against the capacity of 1,586, while the central jail in Durg has 2,031 inmates compared to the capacity of 2,006. Similarly, the central jail in Bilaspur has 2,870 prisoners though it has

Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh gets 50-day parole

Dera Sacha Sauda chief and rape convict Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh has been granted 50-day parole, official sources said on Friday. The parole comes two months after the Sirsa-headquartered sect chief had walked out of the Sunaria jail in Haryana's Rohtak district on November 21 last year after he was granted a 21-day furlough -- his third temporary release from jail in 2023. During his temporary release period, Singh will go to the Dera Sacha Sauda Ashram in Barnawa in Uttar Pradesh's Baghpat. Singh is serving a 20-year jail term for raping two of his disciples. The Dera chief had walked out of the Sunaria jail on a 30-day parole on July 30, 2023, while he was granted a 40-day parole in January last year as well. In October 2022 too, he was granted a 40-day parole. Before that, he had come out of prison on a month-long parole in June 2022. Besides, he was granted a three-week furlough on February 7, 2022. In 2021, the Dera chief, along with four others, was also convicted for hatc

SC notice to Centre, states on PIL alleging caste discrimination in jails

The Supreme Court on Wednesday sought responses from the Centre and 11 states, including Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, on a PIL alleging that the prison manuals of these states encourage caste-based discrimination. A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra took note of senior advocate S Muralidhar's submissions that jail manuals of these 11 states discriminate in the allocation of work inside their prisons and inmates' caste determines the places where they are lodged. The plea referred to Kerala Prison Rules and said they lay down a distinction between a habitual and a re-convicted convict, holding that those who are by habit a robber, house breaker, dacoit or thief should be classified and separated from other convicts. It claimed that the West Bengal Jail Code lays down that work in prison should be designated by caste, such as cooking work will be undertaken by dominant castes and sweeping work shall be undertaken by people from

Packed beyond capacity, prisons in India have got more crowded in 5 years

Nearly 80% of the inmates are undertrials; UP district jails have twice the numbers they were built for

The politics of 'working from jail'

Lalu Prasad and Jayalalithaa took a similar approach when facing arrest, but Arvind Kejriwal is contemplating a rather unconventional path

Delhi L-G allows Police to probe role of 8 officials in helping Sukesh

Investigators stated that Chandrashekhar used to pay approximately Rs 1.5 crore every month to get facilities to use mobile phones and a separate barrack without any hindrance at the jail

Overcrowding in jails, delayed justice are a pressing concern: Par panel

A parliamentary panel has observed that overcrowding in jails and delayed justice have become a pressing concern, leading to a series of consequences for both the prisoners and the criminal justice system as a whole. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs, headed by BJP MP Brijlal, also recommended that special attention should be given to pregnant women on the line of a judgement of the Supreme Court where it was observed that a jail must have adequate facilities for prenatal and post-natal care for female prisoners as well as their children. "The committees, notes that the issue of overcrowding and delayed justice has become a pressing concern, leading to a series of consequences for both the prisoners and the criminal justice system as a whole. The committee recommends that prisoners from overcrowded jails may be transferred to other jails with vacant cells in the same state or other states by signing MoUs to that effect. This kind of an arrangement can be mutual i

Punjab to construct high-security digital jail near Ludhiana: CM Mann

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Friday announced the construction of a high-security digital jail over 50 acres of land near Ludhiana

I am in high spirits in jail, says Amritpal Singh in letter to lawyer

Radical preacher and Waris Punjab De' chief Amritpal Singh, who is lodged at the Dibrugarh Central Jail along with his associates following their arrest in Punjab, has said he is in 'chardi kala' (high spirits) in prison, according to his lawyer Bhagwant Singh Siyalka. Siyalka accompanied family members of arrested Waris Punjab De' activists, including Amritpal Singh, who arrived here earlier in the day and met them at the jail. The radical preacher handed over a letter written in Gurmukhi to Siyalka inside the prison, in which he said: With the blessing of the Almighty, I am in 'chardi kala' here. Referring to the cases registered against members of his outfit, Amritpal Singh accused the Punjab government of unleashing excesses and registering several fake cases against Sikhs. This whole matter is of Khalsa Panth' and I appeal to the Panth' that a panel of capable advocates be set up, which will pursue all these cases, he said in the letter. Siyalka, who is also an executive memb

Guj police conduct raids at 17 jails in state to check illegal activities

Gujarat police are conducting raids across 17 jails in the state to check if any illegal activities are taking place there and also to ensure that the inmates are getting facilities they are entitled to as per the law, a top official said. As many as 1,700 police personnel, including officers, are involved in the operation that began Friday night, state Director General of Police (DGP) Vikas Sahay said. The raids are being conducted in central jails in Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara, Rajkot and other cities as well in sub-jails, he told reporters on Friday night when the operation was underway. "The purpose behind the raids is to find out if any illegal activities are taking place in the jails and to prevent them. Sniffer dogs have also been roped in this intense search operation," Sahay said. Another purpose of the operation is to find out whether the jail inmates are being provided facilities as per the rules properly, he said. The police personnel involved in the operation wore ...

Over 40% of total inmates lodged in Himachal jails arrested in NDPS cases

Drug abuse has become a major challenge in the hill state of Himachal Pradesh and over 40 per cent of the total inmates lodged in 14 prisons in the state have been booked in connection with drugs under NDPS Act. The prisons in Himachal are overcrowded as 2,909 inmates are lodged against the capacity of 2,437 of which 68 per cent are under trial and 32 per cent are convicted. Out of the total 2,909 inmates 1,189 (40.8 per cent) were arrested in drug-related cases, officials said. A total of 7,942 Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) cases were pending in the courts as on November 18, out of which 688 were pending for less than three months, 664 for three to six months, 935 for six months to one year, 953 for 12 months to 18 months, 1,110 for 18 months to two years and 3,601 were pending for more than two years. Over 40 per cent of the total inmates lodged in 14 prisons in the state have been booked in connection with drugs under NDPS Act, the officials said. As speedy .