IN RE-INHUMAN CONDITIONS IN 1382 PRISONS versus

Citation: [2024] 5 S.C.R. 1038 · Decided: 14-05-2024 · Supreme Court of India · Bench: HIMA KOHLI, AHSANUDDIN AMANULLAH · Disposal: Directions issued

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Judgment (excerpt)

[2024] 5 S.C.R. 1038 : 2024 INSC 461
In Re-Inhuman Conditions In 1382 Prisons 
(Writ Petition (Civil) No. 406 of 2013)
14 May 2024
[Hima Kohli and Ahsanuddin Amanullah, JJ.]
Issue for Consideration
Status reports filed by various States/UTs furnishing information on 
the action proposed to be taken within fixed timeline as regards 
various facilities lacking in jails and the recommendations made 
by the Committee(s) constituted by the Supreme Court.
Headnotes†
Prison Reforms – Recommendations made by the Committee(s) 
constituted by Supreme Court – Overcrowding in jails; 
capacity enhancement; welfare of women prisoners and 
children in prisons etc. – Status reports filed by the States 
of Bihar, Punjab, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Odisha 
and Kerala in terms of directions issued vide order dtd. 
23.04.2024 – Recommendations made by Amicus Curiae as 
regards additional wards; upgradation of other necessary 
infrastructure like sanitation facility, kitchen, staff etc. to meet 
the additional needs; such infrastructural improvement and 
their upgradation; pending approvals:
Held: In terms of recommendations of Amicus Curiae, specific 
directions issued to the States/UTs – Additional affidavits personally 
affirmed by the Chief Secretary of the State/UT concerned be 
filed – Affidavits to address all issues including inmate-capacity 
enhancement/augmentation and creation of posts of wardens/cooks/
doctors/various jail staff etc. – Pending approvals for sanction of 
projects or identification of suitable land, to be brought to their logical 
conclusion within the period as directed – Further, for creating facilities 
in prisons, common specifications/parameters may be in terms 
prescribed by and under the Model Prison Manual 2016 issued by 
the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. [Paras 36-38, 41]
Case Law Cited
Sunil Batra (II) v Delhi Administration [1980] 2 SCR 557 : (1980) 3 
SCC 488; Rama Murthy v State of Karnataka (1997) 3 SCC 642; 
State of Maharashtra v Prabhakar Pandurang Sangzgir [1966] 1 
[2024] 5 S.C.R. 
1039
In Re-Inhuman Conditions In 1382 Prisons
SCR 702 : AIR 1966 SC 424; Mohan Patnaik v State of Andhra 
Pradesh [1975] 2 SCR 24 : (1975) 3 SCC 185; Re-Inhuman 
Conditions In 1382 Prisons vs. Re-Inhuman Conditions In 1382 
Prisons [2016] 1 SCR 1090 : (2016) 3 SCC 700; Re- Inhuman 
Conditions In 1382 Prisons (Ji) [2016] 7 SCR 1001 : (2016) 10 SCC 
17; Re-Inhuman Conditions In 1382 Prisons [2017] 14 SCR 519 : 
(2017) 10 SCC 658; Inhuman conditions In 1382 Prisons, In Re 
[2018] 12 SCR 78 : (2018) 18 SCC 777 – referred to.
List of Acts
Constitution of India.
List of Keywords
Prison Reforms; Basic facilities in prisons; Article 21 of the 
Constitution of India; Fundamental Rights of prisoners; Problems 
in jails in India; Facilities lacking in jails; Overcrowding in jails; 
Inmate capacity enhancement/augmentation; Construction of new 
prisoner cells; Women prisoners; Welfare of women prisoners and 
children in the prison; Prison Manual; Model Prison Manual 2016.
Case Arising From
CIVIL ORIGINAL JURISDICTION: Writ Petition (Civil) No.406 of 2013
(Under Article 32 of The Constitution of India)
Appearances for Parties
Gaurav Agrawal, Sr. Adv., Amicus Curiae
Ms. Aishwarya Bhati, A.S.G., Amit Anand Tiwari, Ms. Garima Prasad, 
Sr. A.A.Gs., B.K. Satija, Mohd Irshad, Shiv Mangal Sharma, A.A.G., 
Harmeet Singh Ruprah, D.A.G., Tapesh Kumar Singh, Sr. Adv./
AAG, R. Bala, Sr Adv., Mahfooz Ahsan Nazki, Polanki Gowtham, 
K. V. Girish Chowdary, T. Vijaya Bhaskar Reddy, Ms. Rajeswari 
Mukherjee, Meeran Maqbool, Ms. Archita Nigam, Shuvodeep Roy, 
Saurabh Tripathi, Sumit Kumar, Abhimanyu Tewari, Ms. Eliza Bar, 
Ms. Pragati Neekhra, Ms. Deepanwita Priyanka, Ms. Swati Ghildiyal, 
Ms. Devyani Bhatt, Ms. Neha Singh, Surjendu Sankar Das, Anand 
Murthi Rao, Samar Vijay Singh, Keshav Mittal, Ms. Sabarni Som, 
Fateh Singh, Manish Verma, Parth Awasthi, Pashupathi Nath Razdan, 
Ms. Maitreyee Jagat Joshi, Astik Gupta, Ms. Inderdeep Kaur Raina, 
Rishi Malhotra, V. N. Raghupathy, Manendra Pal Gupta, Varun 
1040
[2024] 5 S.C.R.
Digital Supreme Court Reports
Varma, Ms. Mythili S, Md. Apzal Ansari, C. K. Sasi, Ms. Meena K 
Poulose, Ms. Anupriya, Ms. Mrinal Gopal Elker, Saurabh Singh, 
Manish Yadav, Aaditya Aniruddha Pande, Siddharth Dharmadhikari, 
Bharat Bagla, Sourav Singh, Aditya Krishna, Preet S. Phanse, 
Adarsh Dubey, Pukhrambam Ramesh Kumar, Karun Sharma, Ms. 
Anupama Ngangom, Ms. Rajkumari Divyasana, R.Rajaselvan, A

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