A Project Report on:

Utility and Types of Prison in India

Submitted to:
Mr. Sandeep K. Suman
(Faculty for Criminology and penalogy)

Submitted by:
Shubhankar Thakur
Roll No.-149
VIIth Semester
Date Of Submission:
26th Sep, 2016

HIDAYATULLAH NATIONALLAW UNIVERSITY

RAIPUR, CHHATTISGARH

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Declaration

I hereby declare that the project work entitled Utility and Types of Prison in India submitted to
HNLU, Raipur, is an original work, which has been done by me under the able guidance of Mr.
Sandeep K. Suman, Faculty Member, HNLU, Raipur.

Shubhankar Thakur
Roll No. 149
SEM-VII

Acknowledgement

At the very beginning, I would like to thank all those who were the guiding lights behind this
project. First of all I would like to take this opportunity with esteem privilege to express my
heartfelt thanks and gratitude to my course teacher Mr. Sandeep K. Suman, (Faculty for
Criminology and Penalogy, H.N.L.U.) for having faith in me in awarding me this very significant
project topic. His consistent supervision, constant inspiration and invaluable guidance have been
of immense help in carrying out the project work with success.
Next, I would like to thank my colleagues for maintaining an academic atmosphere which helped
in creation of new ideas and lines of thought for the betterment of this project.
Subsequently I would like to thank my university for providing such an enriched Library, the
computer lab, internet facility without which this project would have been in a distant realm.
I extend my heartfelt thanks to my family and friends for their moral support and encouragement.
I also take this opportunity to thank all those people who contributed in their own small ways for
the completion of this project.

MEANING:PRISON
A prison, jail, or gaol, is a facility in which individuals are forcibly confined and denied a
variety of freedoms under the authority of the state as a form of punishment. The most common
use of prisons is as part of an organized governmental justice system, in which individuals
officially charged with or convicted of crimes are confined to a jail or prison until they are either
brought to trial to determine their guilt or complete the period of incarceration they were
sentenced to after being found guilty at their trial.

Prison includes Jails or any goal or place used permanently or temporarily under the general or
special orders of the Government for the detention of prisoners, under section 417 of the Code
of Criminal Procedure, 1973 and includes all land and buildings appurtenant thereto, but does
not include any place for the confinement of prisoners who are exclusively in the custody of the
police1.
HISTORY OF PRISONS
The origins of prisons can be traced back to the rise of the state as a form of social organization.
Corresponding with the advent of the state was the development of written language, which
enabled the creation of formalized legal codes as official guidelines for society. The most well
known of these early legal codes is the Code of Hammurabi, written in Babylon around 1750
BC. The penalties for violations of the laws in Hammurabi's Code were almost exclusively
centered around the concept of lex talionis("the law of retaliation") where people were punished
as a form of vengeance, often by the victims themselves

1 Goa Prison Rules ,2006 which has been approved by Government of Goa on 12-10-2006 by
way of Notification:9/29/2004-HD(G)/Part.Official Gazette, Series I No. 28, Panaji
13thOctober, 2006.

Prison in Ancient India

During the early years of Indian independence, the prison administration was using the inmates
as labour for their own development without considering the inmates requirements. Thus,
prisoners were there as a force labour. However, later it was released that the prison inmates may
be utilized for community services and productive work so as to earn their own living.
As suggested by Pakwasa Committee, a Model Jail was established at Lacknow in 1949 where
the prisoners were made to work on handloom machines and engaged in various other home
industries. The first women Jail was established in Maharashtra at Yarwada. During the last fifty
years, several notable changes have been introduced in the system of prisons in India.
The object of punishment during the Hindu and Mughal period in India was to deter offenders
from repeating crime. The recognized modes of punishment were death sentence, hanging, and
mutilation, whipping, flogging, branding, or starving to death. During Mughal rule in India the
condition of prisons was awefully draconic. The prisoners were ill-treated, tortured and subjected
to most inhuman treatment. They were kept under strict surveillance and control.

Prison in British India

The British colonial rule in India marked the beginning of penal reforms in this country. The
British prison authorities made strenuous effort to improve the condition of Indian prison and
prisoners. They introduce radical changes in the existing
sentiments of the indigenous people.

prison system keeping in view the

The prison Enquiry Committee appointed by the

Government of India in 1836 recommended the abolition of the practice of prisoners working on
roads. Adequate steps were also taken to eradicate corruption among the prison staff. An official
called the Inspector General of the prison was appointed for the first time in 1855 who was the
Chief Administrator of Prisons in India. His main function was to maintain discipline among the
prisoners and the prison authorities. With this appointment, the jailor and other petty officials of
the prison can no longer abuse their power and authority.

The second Jail Enquiry Committee in 1862 expressed concern for the insanitary conditions of
Indian prisons which resulted into death of several prisoners due to illness and diseases. It
emphasized the need of proper food and clothing the prison inmates and medical treatment of
ailing prisoners. Certain recommendations were also made by the third Jail Enquiry Committee
in 1877.
As a result of these recommendations, the Prison Act, 1894 was enacted to bring about
uniformity in the working of prisons in India. It empowered the existing provinces to enact their
own prison rules for the prison administration. The medical services which were already
provided to prisoners in 1866 were further improved and better animates were provided to
women inmates to protect them against contagious disease. Despite these changes, the prison
policy as reflected through the Act remained deterrent2.
During the period from 1907, vigorous efforts were made to improve the condition of juvenile
and young offenders. They are now kept segregated from the hardened adult offenders so as to
prevent their contamination.
Indian Jail Reforms Committee 1919-20
The Indian Jail Reform Committee 1919-20 which was appointed to suggest measures for prison
reforms was headed by Sir Alexender Cardew. The Committee visited the prisons in Burma,
Japan, Philippines, Honkong and Britain besides the Indian Jail, and came to the conclusion that
prisons should not have deterring influence but they should have a reforming effect on inmates.
The Committee underlined the need for reformative approach to prison inmates and discouraged
the use of corporal punishment in Jails. It recommended utilization of prison inmates in
productive work so as to bring about their reformation.
In the meantime, there was a movement against retention of solitary confinement as a method of
punishment. Taking lead to this discretion, the State of Bombay abolished solitary cells from its
prisons. Other provinces followed the suit and reformed their prisons on humanitarian principles.
The Pakwasa Committee in 1949 accepted the system of utilizing prisoners as labour for road
work without any intensive supervision over them. It was from this time onwards that the system
2 Vidya Bhushan : Prison Administration In India, p. 21.
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of payment of wages to inmates for their labour was introduced. Certain good time laws were
also introduced in jails under which the inmates who behaved well during their term of
imprisonment were rewarded by suitable reduction in the period of their sentence. The ultimate
object of these reforms was to protect the society and reforms.
Indian Prison onwards 1950
Prisons in India are governed by the Indian Prison Act, 1894 and the rules and regulations for
administration and management of prisons as specified in the Prison Manuals of the States. The
emphasis is not only on safe custody of prisoners and under-trails but also on their reformation
and rehabilitation in society. Recognizing the need for reformation of offenders during
incarceration. Pundit Jawahar Lal Nahru expressed a view that criminals are largely creations of
social conditions and they are required to be treated rather than being punished.
The constitution of India has placed Jail along with Police and law and orders in the State list
of the Seventh Schedule. As a result, the Union Government has literally no responsibility of
modernizing prisons and to look after their administration. Even the Five Year Plans offered a
very low priority to prison administration and Jail reforms.
The treatment of prisoners on psychological and psychiatric basis received some attention as a
measure of prison reform during 1950s. It was realized that the rehabilitative activities of the
modern prison should generally be of two kinds: 1) psychological and psychiatric treatment, 2)
educational or vocational training programmes.
Reformative Measures for Prison Inmates
During the early years of Indian independence, the prison administration was using the inmates
as labour for their own development without considering the inmates requirements. Thus,
prisoners were there labour force. Later, it was realized that that the prison inmates may be
utilized for community services and productive work so as to earn their own living. Social
isolation and confinement of prisoners in prison cells was reduced to a minimal as a reformative
prison policy.
As suggested by Pakwasa Committee, a Model Jail was established at Lucknow where the
prisoners were made to work on handloom machines and engaged in various other home
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industries. The prisoners avail the facilities such as, furlough, ticket on leave, medical aid,
educational and occupational training etc. Thus, the modern Indian prison is an institution for
the treatment and reformation of inmates. Open Air Prisons and community are the latest
developments in this area which have been proved beneficial to prison community. Now, the
inmates enjoy considerable liberty in varying proportion depending on their perversity and
response to correctional methods.
The reformation and rehabilitation of prisoners is intended to bring about a behavioral change in
the prisoners perception about values, norms , attitudes through education, training, treatment
with a view to re-socialize and restore him to the community. There are broadly two main goals
of prisons. 1) custodial goal, 2) rehabilitative goal.
Custodial goal requires incarceration of offenders in safe but humanly environment with a view
to punishing them for their crime and to deter them from indulging in criminal acts in future. The
rehabilitative goal emphasis on adoption of treatment and reformatory methods for resocialization of the offender into the main stream of social life after their release from prison.

Overall Statistical View of Indian Prisons

The snapshot on prison statistics, published by the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) New
Delhi on 31st December, 2011 shows that the details regarding various persons and different
categories of inmates in India are as follows:
Jails

Total Jails in India-1371

Central Jails-133
District jails-333
Sub-Jails-809
Open Jails-44
Special Jails-19
Other Jails-03

Total number of Jail Inmates

Total Inmates in Indian Jails is 3,76,396 in which 3,60,995 are Males and 15.40% are females.

Mentally ill-368
Convict-1,20,115 in which 1,16,057 males and 4,058 females
Undertrails-2,50,727 in which 2,39,714 males and 11,013 females
Detenues-7649
Others-16039
Total women inmates-9463
Total foreign inmates -4,550 in which 1088 are convicted and 3,366 are undertrials, 96
Detenues

Central jail
The criteria for a jail to be categorised as a Central Jail varies from state to state. However, the
common feature observed throughout India is that prisoners sentenced to imprisonment for a
long period (more than 2 years) are confined in the Central Jails, which have larger capacity in
comparison to other jails. These jails also have rehabilitation facilities.
Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu have the highest number of 9 Central Jails each followed by
Karnataka, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi with 8 each. Arunachal Pradesh,
Meghalaya, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu and
Lakshadweep do not have any Central Jails.
District jail
District jails serve as the main prisons in States/UTs where there are no Central Jails.States
which have considerable number of District Jails are Uttar Pradesh (53), Bihar (30), Maharashtra
and Rajasthan (25 each), Madhya Pradesh (22), Assam (21), Jharkhand (17), Haryana (16) and
Karnataka (15).[3]
Sub jail
Sub jails are smaller institutions situated at a sub-divisional level in the States. Ten states have
reported comparatively higher number of sub-jails revealing a well-organized prison set-up even
at lower formation. These states are Maharashtra (172), Andhra Pradesh (96), Tamil Nadu (94),
Madhya Pradesh (92), Karnataka (74), Odisha (66), Rajasthan (60), West Bengal (31), Kerala
(29) and Bihar (16). Odisha had the highest capacity of inmates in various Sub-Jails.
10

8 States/UTs have no sub-jails namely Arunachal Pradesh, Haryana, Manipur, Meghalaya,

Mizoram, Sikkim, Chandigarh and Delhi.[3]

Borstal School
Borstal Schools are a type of youth detention center and are used exclusively for the
imprisonment of minors or juveniles. The primary objective of Borstal Schools is to ensure care,
welfare and rehabilitation of young offenders in an environment suitable for children and keep
them away from contaminating atmosphere of the prison. The juveniles in conflict with law
detained in Borstal Schools are provided various vocational training and education with the help
of trained teachers. The emphasis is given on the education, training and moral influence
conducive for their reformation and prevention of crime.
Ten States namely, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala,
Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu have borstal schools in their respective
jurisdictions. Tamil Nadu had the highest capacity for keeping 667 inmates. Haryana and
Himachal Pradesh are the only states that have the capacity to lodge female inmates in 3 of their
Borstal Schools. There are no borstal schools in any of the UTs.

Open jail
Open jails are minimum security prisons. Prisoners with good behaviour satisfying certain norms
prescribed in the prison rules are admitted in open prisons. Prisoners are engaged in agricultural
activities.
Fourteen states have functioning Open Jails in their jurisdiction. Rajasthan reported the highest
number of 23 open jails. There are no Open Jails in any of the UTs.
Special jail

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Special jails are high security facilities that have specialized arrangements for keeping offenders
and prisoners who are convicted of terrorism, insurgency and violent crimes. Special jail means
any prison provided for the confinement of a particular class or particular classes of prisoners
which are broadly as follows:

Prisoners showing tendencies towards violence and aggression.

Difficult discipline cases of habitual offenders.
Difficult discipline cases from a group of professional/organised criminals.

Kerala has the highest number of special jails - 9. Provision for keeping female prisoners in these
special jails is available in Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Gujarat, Kerala, Assam, Karnataka and
Maharashtra.

Other jails
Jails that do not fall into the categories discussed above, fall under the category of Other Jails.
Three states - Goa, Karnataka & Maharashtra - have 1 other jail each in their jurisdiction. No
other state/UT has an other jail.

The capacity of inmates (male & female) reported by these three States in such jails was highest
in Karnataka (250) followed by Goa (45) and Maharashtra (28).

OBJECTIVE OF PRISONS
As early as in the year 1920, the Indian Jails Committee had unequivocally declared that the
reformation and rehabilitation of offenders was the ultimate objective of prison administration.
This declaration subsequently found its echo in the proceedings of various Prison Reforms
Committees appointed by the Central and State Governments of the international influences. The
United Nations Standard Minimum.
Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, formulated in 1955, provides the basic framework for such
a goal. The international Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, propounded by United Nations
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in 1977, to which India is a party, has clearly brought out that the penitentiary system shall
comprise treatment of prisoners the essential aim of which shall be their reformation and social
rehabilitation. It is, however, seen that whereas India is second to none in terms of an enlightened
thinking with regard to the purpose and objective of imprisonment, the gap between proclaimed
principles and actual practices appears to have been widening in recent years3.

LEGAL REGIME
Day-to-day administration of prisoners rests on principles incorporated in the Prisons
Act of 1894, the Prisoners Act of 1900, and the Transfer of Prisoners Act of 1950
As per the Prisoners Act 1900, prison includes any place which has been declared by the State
Government, by general or special order, to be a subsidiary jail4.
As per the Prisons Act 1894, "Prison" means any jail or place used permanently or temporarily
under the general or special orders of a State Government for the detention of prisoners, and
includes all lands and buildings appurtenant thereto, but does not include
Any place for the confinement of prisoners who are exclusively in the custody of the police;
Any place specially appointed by the State Government under section 541 of the Code of
Criminal Procedure, 1882; or Any place, which has been declared by the State Government, by
general or special order, to be a subsidiary jail5.
Any goal or place used permanently or temporarily under the general or special orders of a State
government for the detention of prisoners, under Section 417 of Cr.P.C,
1973 and includes all land and buildings thereto
, but does not include:
(a) Any place for the confinement of prisoners who are exclusively in the custody of the police,
3 http://bprd.nic.in/writereaddata/linkimages/1445424768
4 http://aasc.nic.in/acts%20and%20rules%20(goa)/Home%20Department/The%20Prisoners
%20Act,%201900

5 http://www.humanrightsinitiative.org/programs/aj/prisons/standards/acts/The%20Prisons%20Act%201894

13

(b) Any place specially appointed by the State government under Section 541 of the Code of
Criminal Procedure, 1882 (10 of 1882)6.
According to the transfer of Prisoners Act 1950, prison includes any place which has been
declared by a State.
Government, by general or special order, to be a subsidiary jail7.
Although the terms jail and prison are sometimes used interchangeably, most members of
law enforcement distinguish between the two. Primarily, the difference is that a jail is used by
local jurisdictions such as counties and cities to confine people for short periods of time. A
prison, or penitentiary, is administered by the state, and is used to house convicted criminals for
periods of much longer duration. Both are part of a larger penal system which includes other
aspects of criminal justice such as courts, law enforcement, and crime labs.

6 http://bprd.nic.in/writereaddata/linkimages/1445424768-Content%20%20Chapters

7 http://mha.nic.in/hindi/sites/upload_files/mhahindi/files/pdf/Transfer_prisoners_act1950.
14

CONCLUSION
To conclude I would like to state that there is a need for a specific and specialized legislation for
defining, and categorizing prisons and prisoners in India.
The Prisoners in India are still governed by the Prisons Act of 1894, the Prisoners Act of 1900,
and the Transfer of Prisoners Act of 1950, which three Acts do not even exhaustively define the
kinds of prisons nor do they exhaustively define and categorizethe different type of prisoners in
India.
The Categorizing of the various kinds of prisoners and prisons for convicts, undertrial, would I
believe keep the under trials who might be not guilty away from the hardened criminals and
hence stop the formation of new criminals. Also putting limits on the prison time of various
undertrials by law would further ensure that the Criminal Justice delivery system becomes more
swift and would in conclusion led to less burdening of the prisons in India.
The acceptance of the form of categorization of prisoners in the United States or some form of a
modified system of categorsation of prisoners in United States, in India, will to a great extent
help in bringing down the burden on the Indian Prisons. It will also help to actually treat the
prisoner, rather than keep him untreated in prison.

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