Table A

When seen from a macro level the figures in respect of Bihar in the above table gives the impression that there is no problem of overcrowding in the jails of the state. The reality however is that there are particular jails that are indeed overcrowded. This has been reflected in the Times of India which on January 3, 2018, observed that 27 out of the 57 jails in the state are overcrowded forcing the prisoners to live in unhygienic and inhuman conditions. Beur jail is one of the most overcrowded jails in Bihar. It has 3500 inmates against a capacity of 2200. In West Bengal, the occupancy rate in Correctional Homes or prisons is comparatively higher than the national level: Sub-jails (135.54%); Open Jails (114.6%); Special Jails (117.27%) and Women Jail (142.04%). Similarly, Jharkhand state has around 26,000 prisoners against a capacity of 20,000. However, some analysts doubt the integrity of the statistics given out regarding the prisons and the occupancy. For instance, the ‘Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative’ (CHRI) report - ‘State/UT Wise Prisons Response to COVID-19 Pandemic in India’ has termed the Prison Statistics India, 2019 as ‘deceptive’ as it does not reflect true extent of overcrowding in each of the 1350 prisons in India.

Medical Negligence along with overcrowding is another serious problem in Indian prisons. The Prison Statistics of India Report (2019) which is compiled by the NCRB, highlights that 1775 prisoners died in custody due to various illnesses, including heart, lung, liver, and kidney-related ailments as well as tuberculosis and cancer for the period under report. The problem becomes acute because of the paucity of qualified medical personnel in most of the Indian jails. This is amply demonstrated in the Table B below.   

Table B

                                  Medical Staff of 3 states in 2019

Apart from the usual diseases, the year 2020 brought in the scourge of COVID-19 a highly contagious virus that has killed 18,12,635 people worldwide as on December 31 2020. According to WHO, there are 1,05,43,659 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 1,52,130 deaths in India as on January 16, 2021. Here also overcrowding and paucity of medical personnel, as highlighted above, made the inmates of correctional facilities uniquely more vulnerable to diseases such as COVID-19. Thus, a report of the National Campaign Against Torture, an anti-torture platform for NGOs, documented ‘The Status of COVID-19 in India Prisons’  and concluded that out of the 1,350 jails in India, COVID-19 infections have been reported from at least 351 jails in 25 out of total 36 States/UTs of the country as of 31 August 2020. The CHRI report titled - ‘State/UT Wise Prisons Response to COVID-19 Pandemic in India’ stated that as on October 2020, there were total of 18157 COVID-19 positive cases both for prison staff and inmates, and total of 17 deaths occurred in Indian prisons. The status of COVID-19 infection in Indian jails on an all-India basis as well as in the three states of Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal has been depicted below in Table C.

Table C

With the rising concerns over the spread of Coronavirus in the jails, in Suo Motu Writ Petition ‘Contagion of COVID-19 Virus in Prisons,’ a three judge Bench of the Supreme Court of India directed that prisons must ensure maximum possible distancing among the prisoners, including undertrials. The Bench further directed that each State/Union Territory shall constitute a High-Powered Committee (HPC) comprising of the Chairman of the State Legal Services Committee, the Principal Secretary (Home/Prison) and Director General of Prison(s).

In pursuance to this directive High Power Committees were set up and they issued  directives to decongest the overcrowded jails, conduct awareness programs inside the prison premises to educate the inmates on preventive measures like social distancing, frequent hand washing, dispersal of masks, soap and sanitizer, maintain strict vigil against detection and follow proper medical protocol in case of corona positive case, explore diversified occupancy and practicability of preparing an isolation ward and nodal treatment hospital for the prisoners infected with the COVID-19 virus. These HPCs were empowered with determining which class of prisoners can be released on parole or on interim bail for such period as may be thought appropriate. Following these directives measures such as early parole of prisoners who have been convicted or are under trial for offences for which the prescribed punishment is up to 7 years or less were considered. Social distancing was encouraged and the Bihar prison department banned visitors and relatives. Jharkhand took measures to decongest the prison by transferring prisoners from congested prisons to other prisons where the number of prisoners is low as a step to counter overcrowding and help maintain social distancing. In the state of West Bengal, the prisoners were produced for their judicial hearing through Video Conferencing. Medical camps, supply of multivitamins and immunity booster drink, more  nutritious diet, and counseling sessions to prevent panic among inmates were some of the steps that were taken in these states.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought out in bold relief the systemic deficiencies in the jails of India. The need for reforms in Jail administration has surfaced as a critically important task. Prison inmates also enjoy the Right to Life as enshrined in the constitution as any other citizen of India. The problems like overcrowding, poor sanitation, deficiency in medical assistance including chronic shortage of medical staff etc. Such problems during a pandemic time leads to violation of basic human rights of the prisoners. 

(The contributors Pooja Kumari, Nandita Singh, Akoijam Surjit Singh and Prince Kumar Poddar are researchers at the PPF engaged with NHRC sanctioned project on ‘‘’Custodial Deaths: Trends and Patterns in Jharkhand, Bihar and West Bengal 2009-2018.”)