Government to shift dangerous prisoners to jails in other States

In a move to curb organised crime, the Delhi government has prepared a plan to transfer undertrial gangsters, organised criminals and other high-risk prisoners lodged in the capital’s jails to prisons in other states, if required.

For this, the Government will implement the Transfer of Prisoners (Punjab Amendment) Act, 2025, in Delhi. According to Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, the move aims to enable the interstate transfer of such prisoners in the interest of prison security, law and order and public interest, while strengthening cooperation among states in tackling organised crime.

Under the Delhi government’s proposal, undertrial gangsters, organised criminals and other high-risk prisoners can be transferred from one state to another with the mutual consent of the states concerned or the approval of the Ministry of Home Affairs. The move is also expected to make the criminal justice system more effective and help improve prison management.

According to a Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) statement, a large number of hardened and notorious criminals are lodged as undertrials alongside convicts in Delhi’s jails. In May 2026, 188 members belonging to 26 identified gangs were identified in Delhi, of whom 107 gangsters had been arrested. Despite being jailed, these “hardened criminals” exploit prison welfare facilities and local networks to run extortion rings, orchestrate targeted killings, trigger gang wars, and expand alliances, the CMO said.

Under the existing system, such undertrial gangsters and notorious criminals cannot be transferred from Delhi’s prisons to those in other states. The Transfer of Prisoners Act, 1950, provides for the transfer of convicted prisoners only. Undertrials, meanwhile, are kept in custody under special remand warrants issued by the concerned trial court, and their transfer is governed by the Prisons Act, 1900, which permits the transfer of prisoners only within a state. Moving them outside Delhi aims to isolate them, preventing them from influencing witnesses, disrupting trials, or conspiring from behind bars.

To address this legal gap, the Punjab government had introduced the Transfer of Prisoners (Punjab Amendment) Act, 2025. The amendment received the President’s assent on April 21, 2025. The amended law provides for the transfer of undertrial prisoners from one state to another to maintain security and law and order or in the public interest.