Prison Reforms Programme News Today

Former lokayukta and Supreme Court judge Justice N Santhosh Hegde said that ‘the statutory rights of a person remain intact even when they are sent to prison.

Inmates in jails are barred from exercising their franchise whereas leaders facing criminal charges can contest, even if they are in prisons. 

Lack of ties with the local community affects migrant undertrials’ ability to furnish bail and access timely legal aid.

Poverty and lack of local community ties affect migrants more compared to locals who are undertrial. Around 9% of the undertrial prisoner population incarcerated in a state, on average, belongs to other states

The judiciary and government will also have to do more to curb indiscriminate arrests and ensure the poor and marginalised have access to legal help.

On average, 34% of jail inmates globally are undertrials, and 35% in Commonwealth countries. In India, that proportion is 76%, the world’s sixth-highest. Where are we going wrong?

India is one of the countries that file criminal cases against asylum seekers and refugees for crossing over without documentation.

Complaints of use of force against prison inmates increase by 94% Share Cape Town - The Judicial Inspectorate for Correctional Services (Jics) received 694 complaints relating to use of force by correctional officials on inmates between April last year and March this year. This was an almost 94% increase compared to the previous year. The figures were revealed during a discussion held by various directorates and panellists including the Jics and Department of Correctional Services (DCS) yesterd...

New Delhi, India – On May 25, the day India celebrated Eid al-Fitr, Talha, 12, and five-year-old Mariam slept with their mother’s mobile phone next to them all night. They had not spoken to their father, Khalid Saifi, since a nationwide lockdown was imposed in India on March 25 to check the spread of the novel coronavirus. “They thought he would call on that day [Eid], ” his wife Nargis Saifi told Al Jazeera. Khalid, in a New Delhi jail since February, is among thousands of prisoners aw...