PRISON PROBLEMS IN INDIA: AN OVERVIEW

ACADEMIA Letters PRISON PROBLEMS IN INDIA: AN OVERVIEW Chandi Prasad Khamari INTRODUCTION The term Prison symbolizes a system of punishment. Generally it’s a kind of institutional placement of the accused person including both the under-trails and suspects[1]. Since we know that there cannot be a society without crime and criminals, so the importance of prison is indispensible for any society. In this paper the author has highlighted the various problems that are faced by the offenders inside the prison. BACKGROUND The modern prison system in India is essentially based on the British prison model which is a consequence of prison developments in America at the end of eighteenth century[2]. It is known that a well-organised system of prisons has been in existence in India since time immemorial. It is on record that Brahaspati laid a lot of emphasis on imprisonment of convicts in closed prisons. However, Manu was against this system. Arthashastra,mentions Kautilya wrote that the rulers in ancient India constantly used forts to lodge their prisoners. He personally thought that as far as possible prisons should be constructed by the road-side so that monotony of prison life would reduce to a great extent. In ancient India, the spiritual aspects of human life were overemphasized and therefore, prisons were designed so as to provide ample opportunities for penance and remonstrance. It was a common practice to keep the prisoners in solitary confinement so that they could be given the opportunity of self- introspection[3]. Academia Letters, August 2021 ©2021 by the author — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0 Corresponding Author: Chandi Prasad Khamari, [email protected] Citation: Khamari, C.P. (2021). PRISON PROBLEMS IN INDIA: AN OVERVIEW. Academia Letters, Article 2523. 1 PRISONS ACT, 1894 The objective of Punishment was to deter offenders from repeating crime. The common modes of punishment that are recognized in India are death sentence, imprisonment, fine and seizure. In, 1862, the jail enquiry committee expressed concern for the insanitary conditions of prisons which resulted to death of several prisoners. Thereafter, certain recommendations were made by the Jail committee in 1877. As a result of which the Indian Prison Act, 1894 was enacted. The Act provided for classification of prisoners and the sentence of whipping was abolished. The medical facilities were further improved and better amenities were endeavored for and elaborate provisions were made for women inmates. The present emphasis in not only on safe custody of prisoners but also on their reformation and rehabilitation. Despites several changes, the prison policy as reflected through the Act, by and large, remained deterrent[4]. COMMITTEES ON PRISON REFORMS IN INDIA Various committes has been constituted by the Central government from time to time in order to regulate prison problems in india. some of the major committee has been mentioned belowed. The Mulla Committee In 1980, the Government of India under the chairmanship of justice A N Mulla chaired a committee on Jail Reforms in India. The objective of the committee was to analyse the laws relating to the rehabilitation of offenders. The Krishna Iyer Committee In 1987, under the chairmanship of justice Krishna Iyer another committee was set up to study the status of women prisoners in India. The committee suggested for induction of more women in the police machinery in view of their distinct role in tackling women and children offenders. CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS The Constitution of India has enumerated”Jail”, “Police” and “Law and Order” in the State List of the Seventh Schedule. As a result, the central government is devoid of any responsi- Academia Letters, August 2021 ©2021 by the author — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0 Corresponding Author: Chandi Prasad Khamari, [email protected] Citation: Khamari, C.P. (2021). PRISON PROBLEMS IN INDIA: AN OVERVIEW. Academia Letters, Article 2523. 2 bility to modernize prisons and interfere in their administration. Unfortunately, the five-year plans gave very scantyfocus to prison administration and prison reforms. SUBSEQUENT DEVELOPMENTS The utility of prison as an institution for rehabilitation of offenders and preparing them to further induce in mainstream society has always been a contentious issue. Stressing on the need for retaining the institution of prison, Dr Paripurnannd verma, observed that “a prison symbolizes evil and therefore, evil doers find themselves in perfect harmony inside the house of evils”[5]. This assertions seems to be an over simplification of facts as this does not hold good for all categories of criminals. There are a large number of offenders who are otherwise well behaved and are persons of respectable class of society but they fall prey to criminality on account of monetary impulsiveness, provocation or yield to situational circumstances. The propelling intent behind sending criminals to prison is to transform them into honest and law-abiding citizens by inculcating in them distaste for crime and criminality. However, the Supreme Court in Ram Murthy Vs. State of Karnataka[6], has observed various issues faced by the prisoners which seriously needs reforms. The issues are as follows:1. Overcrowding 2. Unnatural death 3. Insufficient foods 4. Inadequate clothing 5. Delay in trial 6. Improper medical facility 7. Inadequacy of trained staffs 8. Prison vices 9. Torture and ill-treatment 10. Deficiency in communication The Court noted that these are the major problems which need immediate attention but unfortunately the Indian Prisons are still struggling. Academia Letters, August 2021 ©2021 by the author — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0 Corresponding Author: Chandi Prasad Khamari, [email protected] Citation: Khamari, C.P. (2021). PRISON PROBLEMS IN INDIA: AN OVERVIEW. Academia Letters, Article 2523. 3 Basing upon such inhuman conditions the former chief justice, R C Lathoti pointed out that there are four major issues which are as follows:1. Overcrowding 2. Unnatural death 3. Inadequacy of staffs 4. Untrained or inadequate trained staff MAJOR PROBLEMS Some of the major problems faced by the prisoners in the prisons are as follows:- OVERCROWDING It is a undeniable fact that prisons in India are generally overcrowded. For instance, there were 814 prisoners in Sambalpur circle jail against the capacity of 541[7]. Around 100 offenders were brought to the Jail between Sept 5, 2020 and Sept 15, 2020 and majority of them are involved in petty offences. According to the data of NCRB[8] as on Dec, 2013 the number of UTP[9] was 67.6% of the entire prison population. Therefore, sec 436 and 436-A of CrPC[10] needs to be invoked. Plea-braining as provided under sec 265-A also be used to reduced the pendency of cases and reducing overcrowding in prisons. The All India Committee o Jail reforms headed by Justice Mulla has in its report[11]classified on various types of remission and advocated for useful recommendations to streamline the remission system in India. It was also suggested that earnest effort be made towards invoking provisions like Pleabargaining, fast track courts and Lok adalats and production of accused before the court directly or via video-conferencing[12]. PRISON DISCIPLINE Prison discipline has always grasped the attention of the penologist throughout the world. Once Donald Taft, while expressing his view about the prison administration, commented that prisons are deliberately so planned as to provide unpleasant compulsory isolation from general society. According to him, a prison characterizes rigid discipline, provision of bare necessities, strict security arrangements and monotonous life[13]. Chapter V, sec 27 to 30 of the Act deals with the discipline of prisoners Academia Letters, August 2021 ©2021 by the author — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0 Corresponding Author: Chandi Prasad Khamari, [email protected] Citation: Khamari, C.P. (2021). PRISON PROBLEMS IN INDIA: AN OVERVIEW. Academia Letters, Article 2523. 4 The consciousness of subjection to compulsive forces of the State through the agency of prison often leads to scuffle between prison officials and the inmates. The custody of prisoners should therefore, ensure their safety and security as also minimize the chances of conflict with prison administrators. IMPROPER MEDICAL FACILITY Health essentially constitute a vital factor that prison authorities need to pay attention. It is disheartening to note that despite the sizeable prison population in India, there exist a acute lack of published information about the prevalence of health problems in prisons. Chapter VIII, Sections 37 to 39 of the Prisons Act, 1894 deal with the health of prisoners. According to this chapter, every prisoner should be asked about his health at the time of entering the prison. It will be the duty of the state government to ensure safety and control the spread of the disease not only to the prisoners but also to the people living outside the jails. The most common diseases that are found in the prisons are anemia, tuberculosis, diarrhea and HIV AIDS. TB is considered to be the single biggest cause of death among the world’s prison populations[14]. In order to tackle the problem of prisoners, volunteers may be deployed in the prison for nursing. In Anil Kumar Vs State of M.P[15], the Madhya Pradesh High Court issued directions to the state to initiate adequate steps to control spread of diseases in prisons. Recently the Supreme court has been instrumental in directing various state governments to decongest the jails and make necessary arrangements to contain the spread of infectious disease transmission CRIMINALITY AMONG THE INMATES A major problem attributable to prison discipline is criminality among inmates inside the prison. The primecause for criminality among prison inmates is their frequent quarrels inside the institution. Each prisoner tries to establish his superiority over his fellow comrades. Therefore, prisoners often narrate their stories of courage with exaggeration while committing crimes. Sometimes the situation takes the shape of a group rivalry resulting in skirmishes among the prisoners. CONCLUSION From the above discussion, it can be seen that the prisoners were suffering from different types of problems. Therefore, it has been suggested to appoint well qualified officers to carry out Academia Letters, August 2021 ©2021 by the author — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0 Corresponding Author: Chandi Prasad Khamari, [email protected] Citation: Khamari, C.P. (2021). PRISON PROBLEMS IN INDIA: AN OVERVIEW. Academia Letters, Article 2523. 5 the administrative tasks smoothly and they should ensure that all the acts should be done by strictly following the Prison Manual. Although several committees related to prison reforms have been formed, still then it is suggested that a committee is required to conduct a survey for smooth administration of prisons and to remove all the problems faced by the prisoners. REFERENCES [1] Sharma, P. D. (1998). Criminal Justice Administration. In P. D. Sharma, Criminal Justice Administration (p. 145). Rajasthan: Rawat Publications. [2] Gosh, P. (n.d.). Share Your Essays. Retrieved April 29, 2021, from www.shareyouressays.com: https://www.shareyouressays.com/essays/essay-on-modern-prison-system-in-india-599-words/121436 [3]Paranjape, N. V. (2017). Criminology,Penology,Victimology. In P. P. Paranjape, Criminology,Penology,Victimology (p. 505). Allahabad: Central Law Publications. [4][4]Bhusan, V. (1970). Prison Administration in India. Delhi : S Chand . [5][5] Verma, P. (1963). Crime, criminal and convict . Agra: Ram Prasad and sons . [6] AIR 1997 SC 1739 [7] n.a. (2018, Sept 16), The New Indian Express [8] National Crime Record Bureau [9] Undertrail prisoners [10] Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 [11] 1980-1983 [12] Bhim Singh Vs Union of India, Manu/SC 10786/ 2014. [13] Engalnd, D. T. (1964). Criminology . New York City: The Macmillan Company . [14] As per the record available in https://home.rajasthan.gov.in/content/ [15] 2000 (1) C. Cr. J 118 Academia Letters, August 2021 ©2021 by the author — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0 Corresponding Author: Chandi Prasad Khamari, [email protected] Citation: Khamari, C.P. (2021). PRISON PROBLEMS IN INDIA: AN OVERVIEW. Academia Letters, Article 2523. 6