This article is written by Tejasvi Shukla, from National Law University, Shimla.

Introduction

With an increasing threat of COVID, the Government is advising every citizen to practice Social- Distancing where everybody is required to maintain a minimum distance of 1 meter (or 3 feet ) in order to curb the spreading of a pandemic. But the conditions inside the jail are raising serious concerns for Authorities because of overcrowdedness, thus exposing inmates to disease. Doctors and Health Experts are calling jails as Vulnerable ones amid an outbreak because of overcrowding and poor sanitization that can act as a career for spreading.

The norm of social distancing, which is the only way out to curb the transmission is now worrying jail authorities because of overcrowding inside the jails. The medical and Sanitization facilities inside jails are also very poor that again is a matter of grave concern. In order to save prisons from becoming hot-spot,  authorities are required to take strict steps and must ensure at least 6 feet distance among the inmates.

Supreme Court Orders

On 16th March 2020, Hon’ble Supreme Court took Suo Moto Cognizance of the matter as overcrowding makes it impossible for inmates to follow the norm of social distancing, directed the states and UTs to submit replies and steps being taken to prevent spreading of the pandemic among prisoners and juveniles noting the high risk of transmission among them. Every state and Union Territory was directed to submit their replies by the 20th of March, 2020.

On 23rd of March, 2020, the Hon’ble supreme court directed States and Union Territories to set-up a Committee that would consider releasing all inmates with sentences up to 7 years or less. The Committee must work in consultation with the State Legal Service Commission. The bench also directed to stop the physical presence of undertrial prisoners before the courts and recoursing video conferencing for all such purposes, in order to avoid transmission. The Hon’ble Supreme Court has also ordered not to shift inmates to other jails except in case of decongestion and also ordered the authorities to shift sick prisoners to the hospital without any delay.

The Hon’ble Supreme Court has also ordered the states to make sure that the social-distancing is maintained among the inmates and stopped the physical presence of undertrials during the hearing. The undertrials must present before the court virtually taking the recourse of video conferencing in order to stop the disease from spreading. 

The prisoner should be shifted to a nodal medical institution without any delay, if he shows symptoms of the disease, so that it may not spread among other inmates. 

Can Prisons Turn into Epicentre

In a recent release of the Human Rights Initiative it said that prisoners across the globe have been tested positive for  COVID-19 including the global hotspots of the United States, United Kingdom,  Italy,  Iran, etc. The growing  threat of spreading disease among inmates is a matter of great concern,  and it indicates the improper condition of jails. The Prison statistics of India show various factors as a contributing one towards the growing threat for inmates.  

Overcrowding

According to the World Prison Brief, India stands Fifth globally in terms of prisoners population after the United States of America, Russia, China and Brazil. According to the National Crime Record Bureau, occupancy percentage of Indian prisons from 2008 to 2018 stands near 117% i.e., Indian prisons are having 17% inmates than the actual capacity. The issue of overcrowding is highly alarming in some states like Uttar Pradesh, where the occupancy rate exceeds by 76.5 percent. The largest jail complex of South Asia, i. e. Tihar jail has an occupancy rate of 174.89 percent,  which is again 74.89 percent more than the sanctioned capacity. The alarming situations of overcrowding inside the jails are adding a threat to the life of prisoners as it hinders the practice of Social Distancing, which may cause transmission of COVID.

The report from the National Crime Research Bureau suggests that Indian jails are having 4.5 lakhs of Prisoners against the sanctioned strength of 3.4 lakhs inmates. In some states situations are far worse, the occupancy in those states ranges more than 150%. For Instance, Uttar Pradesh has an occupancy rate of 176.5%, Delhi on 163% and Chattisgarh on 160%, they are running with 50% more prisoners than the actual figure. On the other hand, some states are having fewer prisoners than actual accommodation available as Tamil Nadu having a 60% occupancy rate.

The threat of transmission in states with overcrowded jails is now creating a new challenge before the authorities to release surplus inmates from jail in order to follow the norm of social distancing and curb the spreading of the disease.

Health and Sanitization

Apart from rampant overcrowding, health and sanitization problems inside the jail are also a possible threat for inmates present in prisons. The high death rate and non-availability of doctors and proper treatment in prison is a point of concern for transmission. Most of the doctors working in prisons are incapable and under trained, who need proper training. As of 2018, Indian jails were having 1914 doctors against the sanctioned strength of 3220 doctors, authorities have to call doctors from outside in order to fulfill the need. The figure shows a lack of doctors by 40% inside jails. Right now, Indian prisons are having one doctor out of 243 prisoners, while in some states like Jharkhand the condition is even worse, only one doctor out of 1375 inmates, followed by  West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh with one doctor out of 923 and 727 respectively. 

Total Expenditure allocated to spend on health as of 2018 was Rs. 76 crore against total expenditure of Rs. 1714 crore, 4 % of total expenditure allotted for prison functioning. Highest being Delhi spending 13.5% of total expenditure on health followed by West Bengal at 10.5% and Uttar Pradesh at 10%.

According to the All India Jail Reforms Committee of 1980-83, most of the cells lack flush latrines and they still use the bucket-type latrine. The ratio of latrine and urinals present are much lower than the required ratio. Overflow of latrines is also a major problem that invites flies and mosquitoes to breed there. In some cells inmates are provided only with pots for answering nature calls. A stinking smell pervades the atmosphere of cells.

The poor sanitation inside the jail causes various kinds of diseases among inmates including cholera, typhoid and other diseases. The condition is even worse for women, they have to suffer from the various urinal and reproductive problems due to dirty and less number of toilets in a jail complex.

Overcrowding due to undertrials

India ranked 15th out of 217 countries in undertrial incarceration. The Major point for overcrowding due to Undertrials being low case disposal rate. Indian prisons are having 2 undertrials per convict. Nearly 69% of inmates in Indian Prisons have not been convicted for their crime by the court.  

Around 36% of undertrial inmates stay in jails for up to three months, 22% for three to six months and 17% stay for six to seven months. Contributing factors for a high number of undertrial range from a paucity of judges, ineffective legal representation and case overload with consequently longer trials. A quantitative analysis of these under trial inmates also show that most of our young illiterates who came from poor families. It was also found that most of them can not afford the bail fee.

Shallow Pockets

Some States and UTs spent between Rs. 20,000 to Rs. 35,000 annually per inmate that is far less than those of the other states, where Delhi and some other states spend around 81,000 on upkeep annually. The huge crunch in some states is also a reason behind the shabby condition of jails.

Utilization, too, remains unimpressive. This gap has driven the Supreme Court to consider that it may be “necessary to have the accounts audited to ascertain whether the money is being spent wisely and whether it is being utilized for the benefit of the prisoners or not”.

Short- Staffed

Most prisons in India have vacancies greater than 20%. There is a dearth of medical professionals too.

The Model Prison Manual, 2016, lays down that there shall be at least one medical officer for every 300 prisoners. In central prisons, there should always be one doctor available. Some states like Uttarakhand have all of its 10 posts lying vacant. The ratio of a medical officer to inmates stands around 1:243.

The current ratio of staff and prisoners is approximately 1:7. In the absence of adequate staff and because of the overcrowding of prisons, the upkeep of prisoners is much below the set standard. Sometimes prisoners are also forced to engage themselves in various work unwillingly without any pay.

Important Committees on Prison reform

From time to time, the government has formed various committees to examine the condition of prison and prisoners. The Committees examine and recommend measures for the education, health, development of skills, rehabilitation and social reintegration of prisoners.

All India Jail Reform Committee (1980-83)

The committee was formed by the government under the chairmanship of Justice A.N. Mulla in 1980. The committee was set-up with the objective to review the law, rules and regulations related to prisons. The report was submitted by the Mulla committee in 1983.

The committee had made several important recommendations-

1. The living conditions of prisoners should be made compatible with human dignity by improving the quality of sanitation, making adequate arrangements of food, accommodation and ventilation.
2. There should be proper training for jail staff and an All India Services be formed namely Indian Prisons & Correctional Services to induct qualified and talented personnel.
3. Separate accommodation be made or under trails to keep them away from convicts. The provision of speedy tail and liberalization of bail be adopted to reduce the overcrowding in jails.
4. Proper arrangements will be made for educating, developing skills, and training of prisoners.
5. The government should allocate proper funds and allocate resources properly.

Justice Krishna Iyer Committee on jail Reforms

Justice Krishna Iyer Committee was formed by the government in the year 1987, to examine and make recommendations in order to improve the situation of women prisoners. The committee submitted its report to the government in February 1988.

The major recommendations of the committee are as follows-

1. Necessary provisions are made in order to maintain the dignity of women inside the prisons and all required resources be made available in order to achieve the dignity of women.
2. Women are vulnerable to exploitation, so separate institutions are made for them and it should have women employees only.
3. Proper arrangements are made in prisons to save women offenders from psychosis and neurotic disorders.
4. Free legal aid is provided to women offenders in case they can not afford lawyers.

Conclusion

The release of Prison Inmates to avoid the transmission of the pandemic among them clearly shows the shabby and poor conditions in which prisoners are surviving. Various reports have suggested that Indian Prisons are running low in terms of capacity and in terms of other basic facilities. From time to time various committees formed to find out the lacking point and come up with the idea of resolving the problems but all in vain. The Constitution of India guarantees Right to Life to everyone which includes prisoners too, where the Right to live with Dignity is also guaranteed but after going through all the Data and Reports, it seems that Rights are reduced to Books only. This pandemic may prove to be a turning point in the field of prison reform if authorities have taken this as a call for change.  

References

1. 78th  Law Commission of India Report, ‘ Congestion of under trial prisoners in jail’, 1979 available at http://lawcommissionofindia.nic.in/51-100/Report78.pdf.
2. Prison Statistics India, National Crime Record Bureau, available at https://ncrb.gov.in/prison-report.
3. NationalPolicy on Prison Reforms and Correctional Administration, Bureau of Police Research &  Development, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, New Delhi. Available at https://www.bprd.nic.in.
4. Bureau of Police Research & Development, Ministry of Home Affairs, New Delhi. Implementation of the Recommendations of All-India Committee on Jail Reform (1980-83); Volume I; 2003; available at: https://www.mhal.nic.in.
5. Prisons in India: An overview of reforms and current situation, pp.31-53; available at https://www.rajprisons.nic.in.

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