SC Stresses On Rights Of Prisoners; Tells Centre, States To Comply With Guidelines On Prison Reforms [Read Order]

The Supreme Court in Re-Inhuman Conditions In 1382 Prisons, has observed that due importance needs to be given to the rights of prisoners and undertrials in various prisons across the country.Holding that the prisoners to have the right to life and the right to live with dignity under Article 21 of the Constitution, the Bench comprising Justice Madan B. Lokur and Justice R.K. Agrawal. The Supreme Court in Re-Inhuman Conditions In 1382 Prisons, has observed that due importance needs to be given to the rights of prisoners and undertrials in various prisons across the country. Holding that the prisoners to have the right to life and the right to live with dignity under Article 21 of the Constitution, the Bench comprising Justice Madan B. Lokur and Justice R.K. Agrawal also directed the Union of India through the Ministry of Home Affairs to obtain the status of compliance of orders passed by the court earlier this year. We are a little distressed to note that even though this court has held on several occasions that prisoners, both undertrials and convicts, have certain fundamental rights and human rights, little or no attention is being paid in this regard by the States and some Union Territories, including the National Capital Territory of Delhi, the bench observed.