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INTRODUCTION
Punishing the offenders is the primary function of all civil societies.
Prisons are known to have existed throughout the history. Existence
of prisons can be traced back to the ancient period. It was believed
that rigorous isolation and custodial measures would reform the
offenders. Experience, however, belied this expectation and often
imprisonment had the opposite effect. With the development of
behavioral sciences, it began to federalize that reformation of
offenders was not possible by detention alone.1
Prisons are not normal places. The prisoners are deprived of freedom
and personal contacts with family and friends. The utility of prison
as an institution for rehabilitation of offenders and preparing them
for normal life has always been a controversial issue. There are quite
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 momentary impulsiveness, provocation or
due to situational circumstances. There is yet another class of
prisoners who are otherwise innocent but have to bear the rigors of
prison life due to miscarriage of justice. Obviously such persons find
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1. http://www.drishtiias.com/upsc-exam-gs-resources-Prison-Reform
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it difficult to adjust themselves to the prison surrounding and find
life inside the prison most painful and disgusting.
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Meaning of Prison:
A prison has been defined as "a place properly arranged and equipped
for the reception of persons who by legal process are committed to it
for safe custody while awaiting trial or for punishment.2
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2
The Oxford English Dictionary, Vol. viii, p. 1385.
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Supra Note 1
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
A well organised system of prisons is known to have existed in India
from the earliest time. It is on record that Brahaspati laid great stress on
imprisonment of convicts in closed prisons. However Manu was
aganist this system. It was a common practice to keep the prisoners in
solitary confinement so as to afford them an opportunity of self
introspection. The object of punishment during Hindu and Mughal
period in India was to deter offenders from repeating crime. The
recognised modes of punishment were death sentence, hanging,
whipping, flogging, branding or starving to death. The prisoners were
ill-treated, tortured and subjected to most inhuman treatment. They
were kept under strict control and supervision. Thus prisons were
places of terror and torture and prison authorities were expected to be
tough and rigorous in implementing sentences.
Prisons have very serious health implications. There are some prisoners
who are suffering from various diseases before entering to the prison
or they get effected after coming in the prison. Hence there is no
healthy atmosphere in the prison. It is overcrowded, there is no fresh
air, absence of proper and nutritious food etc.
The size of the pre-trial prisoners is higher than that of the convicted
prisoner. Pre-trial detention period is the most open period for the
abuse of criminal justice process. Although pre-trial detainees should
be presumed innocent until found guilty by a court of law, and treated
as such, conditions in pre-trial detention are often much worse than
those of prisons for convicted prisoners.
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INDIAN PRISON REFORMS
For an easy understanding let us devide the Prison Reforms into Pre-
Independence and Post- Independence.
PRE-INDEPENDENCE
4 . https://www.2thepoint.in/prison-reforms-in-india
Prison Enquiry Committee, 18625
It was appointed to review the prison administration in India. This
committee expressed deep concern for the unsanitary condition of
Indian prisons and recommended a certain minimum space for each
prisoner. It also recommended for better clothing and food regular
medical checkup of the prisoners.
5 .Ibid
6 . www.wbcorrectionalservices.gov.in
local Governments by the Home Secretary to the Government of India
on 25th March, 1893 with a view to obtaining their views. It was later
presented to the Governor General in Council and ultimately Prisons
Act of 1894 came into existence which is the current law governing
management and administration of prisons.
The process of review of prison problems in the country, continued
even after the enactment of Prisons Act, 1894. The first ever
comprehensive study was launched on this subject with the
appointment of ‘All India Jail Committee’ (1919- 1920). It is indeed a
major landmark in the history of prison reforms in India and is
appropriately called the corner stone of modern prison reforms in the
country. For the first time, in the history of prison administration,
reformation and rehabilitation of offenders were identified as one of
the objectives of prison administration.
7 . Paranjape NV. Criminology & Penology with Victimology, Central Law Publications; Sixteenth Edition;
2014, p-479.
movement against retention of solitary confinement as a method of
punishment. The recommendations made by the Committee could not
be implemented due to inappropriate political environment. The
constitutional changes brought about by the Government of India Act
of 1935, which resulted in the transfer of the subject of prisons in the
control of provincial governments, further reduced the possibilities of
uniform implementation of the recommendations of the Indian Jails
Committee 1919-1920 in the country.
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POST INDEPENDENCE
After independence, the prison is with the state governments as
Jail and police are mentioned in the State list. Since
independence, it was thought that that such reformative
measures like providing an opportunity for rehabilitation,
provision for health, recreation and education is more
beneficial to the society at large than the inmates themselves.
Therefore, there has been reform oriented approach adopted by
the governments.
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It recommended for:
4. The media and public men should be allowed to visit prisons and
allied correctional institutions periodically so that public may have
first-hand information about conditions inside prisons and be willing
to co-operate with prison officials in rehabilitation work.
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7. To have at least one Borstal School set up under the Borstal Schools
Act, 1929 for youthful offenders in each State;
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CONCLUSION
Through various committees and acts were passed from time to time
for improving the conditions of prisons in India but still majority of the
problems is left unsolved. The administration procedure in India is
lacking much behind that of western states and hence we are unable to
provide good conditions in prisons.
Internet Resources
1) www.drishtiias.com
2) The Oxford English Dictionary
3) www.2thepoint.in
4) www.wbcorrectionalservices.gov.in
5) www.preservearticles.com
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