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In Re: Inhuman Conditions in 1382 Prisons (I.A. No. 26542/2018 in W.P.(C) No. 406/2013)

Writ Petition (Civil) · 2018 INSC 1200Decided 13 Dec 2018
Writ Petition (Civil) No. 406 of 2013
Justice Madan B. Lokur · Justice S. Abdul Nazeer · Justice Deepak Gupta

Background

This application for directions was filed within the Court's ongoing nationwide PIL on inhuman prison conditions. The amicus curiae sought a ruling that prisoners sentenced to death be treated on par with other convicted prisoners (access to work, education, vocational training) and that solitary/separate confinement of death-row convicts be struck down as unconstitutional.

Decision Breakdown

The Court held that a prisoner can only be called a "death row prisoner" once the death sentence becomes final, conclusive and beyond any further judicial or constitutional challenge, not merely upon conviction by the trial court, relying on its earlier rulings in Sunil Batra and Kishore Singh Ravinder Dev. Until that finality, such a convict is entitled to the same facilities as any other prisoner, including a bed, pillow, writing material, books and family contact. The Court reiterated there is no meaningful difference between "separate confinement" and "solitary confinement," so death-row convicts may move within the prison like other convicts undergoing rigorous imprisonment, subject only to security restrictions imposed with natural justice and a right of appeal. It also directed that meetings with lawyers, family members, and mental health professionals must be permitted. Broader issues were left open for the Justice Amitava Roy Committee to examine, and the application was disposed of.

Lesson Learnt

Even a prisoner sentenced to death retains the ordinary rights and facilities of any convict, including family contact and legal access, until the death sentence has actually become final and unappealable; dignity-based prison rights under Article 21 apply equally across all States and Union Territories.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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