Blaming the “retributive” approach of State Governments and prison authorities for the rising trend of unnatural deaths in Indian jails, the Supreme Court on Friday passed a slew of measures to arrest the trend and introduce a more humane approach when it comes to treating prisoners.
As a first step, the court directed the Chief Justices of all High Courts to take up cases where prisoners died an unnatural death since 2012 and directed suitable compensation to be paid to their next of kin, if it was not already paid. Since Chief Justices are also Patrons of all State legal Services Authority (SlSA), the Bench of Justices Madan B lokur and Deepak Gupta directed the SlSAs to conduct a performance audit of all jail hospitals to take stock of prevailing deficiencies in medical care and supply of medicines.
Although National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) records 195 unnatural deaths in 2014 that dipped to 115 in 2015, the Court directed Centre and States to document each and every death that takes place in prison and attribute the cause of death in each unnatural/natural death to ensure cases of medical negligence or delay in providing medical care does not pass off as a natural death. The Bench even underlined the role of counselors and support persons in prisons and advised jail authorities to involve recognised NGOs to identify and cater to prisoners with violent or suicidal
tendencies.
The Bench gathered an impression that nothing has changed on the ground despite several rulings were passed by Apex Court granting compensation in cases of unnatural deaths. “What is practiced in our prisons is the theory of retribution and deterrence and the ground situation emphasizes this, while our criminal justice system believes in reformation and rehabilitation…It is this rejection of the philosophy of our criminal justice system that leads to violence in prisons and eventually unnatural deaths,” the Bench said.
The Court affirmed that prisoners are not “chattels” and asked the States to change their mindset and adopt a more humane approach in order to give true meaning to their right to life and liberty of prisoners. “What is needed is a review of all prisons with a humanitarian nuance,” said the Bench, suggesting phone and video conferencing facility for prisoners to talk with their family and lawyer. Additionally, Court advised eminent members of society to be included in the Board of Visitors within two months to ensure reforms.