Humanisation of Prisons in India

The book essentially deals with the analysis of the legal regime of prison administration with special focus on the protection of human rights of prisoners. Under Indian Penal Code, imprisonment is a prominent form of punishment. Since imprisonment primarily involves confinement and consequent segregation from normal society, by its very nature it is afflictive. The incarceration generally causes a great hardship to a prisoner as he is cut-off from family, relatives and friends. State is under a constitutional obligation to organise prison system in such a manner that the imprisonment does not result in further degeneration of a prisoner. It is clearly established that a court sentence does not deprive the prisoner of his fundamental rights. He retains all his rights except those which are inconsistent with his incarceration. The prison system should aim at ensuring the return of an offender to society as not only willing but also able to lead a well adjusted and self-supporting life. In this regard, the humanisation of prisons assumes a greater significance.

Prisons in India are generally overcrowded, with overcrowding in certain Prisons, as high as 400% of the prescribed capacity. Over crowding burdens prison administration and makes the task of maintaining human dignity, safely and security and enforcement of discipline in prisons much more difficult. It thus dilutes the overall quality of life for the prisoners. The need of the hour is to lay the foundation of a progressive prison system, which can protect and preserve basic human rights of prisoners and achieve the protection of society and reformation and rehabilitation of prisoners. One of the essential prerequisites for evolving such a humanistic prison system is the existence of a legal system, which is fair, just and reasonable, and also potent.

For achieving an effective humanisation of prisons each link in the chain needs to remoulded, reoriented on the basis of humanistic values. As a prelude to this there is a need to survey the existing prison laws, to make an objective assessment of the role played by the judiciary and an analysis of the organisational structure of the prison administration. The present study aims to make a thorough and comprehensive study of the three links of the prison justice system to identify the hurdles on the way to humanisation of prison administration.