Lok Sabha Question No. 2123 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-12-20
Subject: Prison Reform
Ministry: HOME AFFAIRS
Asked by: Sarmistha Sethi

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2123

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 20 TH  DECEMBER, 2022/ AGRAHAYANA 29, 1944 (SAKA)

PRISON REFORM

2123. SHRIMATI SARMISTHA SETHI:

Will the Minister of HOME AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

(a)  whether the Government has taken any measure to reform the century old system of prisons and bring changes in the criminal justice system in the country;

(b)  if so, the details thereof;

(c) whether the Government has taken appropriate comprehensive measures to improve the conditions of prisons; and

(d) if so, the details thereof?

ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS (SHRI AJAY KUMAR MISHRA)

(a) and (b):    'Prisons'/'persons detained therein' is a 'State List' subject under  List  II  of  the  Seventh  Schedule  to  the  Constitution  of  India. Administration  and  management  of  prisons  is  the  responsibility  of  State Governments. However, the Government of India has been supplementing the  efforts  of  the  State  Governments  in  this  regard  by  way  of  issuing advisories on varied aspects of prison administration from time to time. In the  specific  context  of  Prisons  and  prison  inmates,  Section  436A  was inserted in the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) through the Code of

Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Act, 2005 (No. 25 of 2005), which makes provision for release of an undertrial prisoner on personal bond/bail by the Court on undergoing detention for a period extending up to one half of the maximum period of imprisonment specified for an offence under any law. A new chapter XXIA ''Plea Bargaining'' (Section 265-A to 265-L of CrPC) was inserted in the Code of Criminal Procedure by the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2005 (No. 2 of 2006) which enables pre trial negotiation between  the  defendant  and  the  prosecution.  These  provisions  aimed  at improving  the  Criminal  Justice  System  assist  in  reducing  the  number  of undertrial prisoners in the country. An E-prisons portal has been deployed in  all  States  and  Union  Territories  (UTs)  for  efficient  prison  and  prisoner management. It provides facility to State authorities to access the data of inmates  in  a  quick  and  easy  manner,  including  assisting  in  identifying prison  inmates  whose  cases  have  become  due  for  consideration  by  the Under Trial Review Committee for consideration accordingly. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has implemented the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network & Systems (CCTNS) with the objective of interlinking  all police stations for sharing crime and criminal data. The scope of CCTNS project has  been  enhanced  to  integrate  this  data  with  other  pillars  of  criminal justice system namely, Forensics, Prosecution, Courts and Prisons under the  Interoperable  Criminal  Justice  System  (ICJS),  which  is  a  common platform for information exchange amongst all pillars of criminal justice

system. ICJS enables a nation-wide search on police, prisons and courts databases  across  all  States  and  UTs  and  is  useful  in  identifying  and tracking offenders. All these interventions of the Government of India are significant steps in the direction of improving and reforming the criminal justice system, on a continuous basis.

(c) and (d):   States and UTs are competent to take appropriate measures to  improve  the  condition  of  prisons  in  their  jurisdictions.  However,  MHA has been providing guidance to the States and UTs on periodic basis on varied aspects of prison administration. A Model Prison Manual 2016 was also  circulated  by  MHA  to  all  States  and  UTs,  which  provides  detailed guidelines  on  wide  ranging  issues  like  Prison  Building  &  Architecture, Custodial  Management,  Welfare  of  Prisoners,  Medical  Care,  Vocational Training and Skill Development  programmes  etc.  for improving the condition of prisons and inmates.

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