New Delhi: Several states continue to keep death row convicts in solitary confinement, a report prepared by a Supreme Court-appointed panel on prison reforms has pointed out.
The three-member committee, headed by former top court judge Amitava Roy, has called the practice a “most egregious” violation inflicted on prisoners.
According to the 171-page report, made public on 30 August, to confine death row prisoners in solitary cells was a breach of the Supreme Court’s 1978 judgment which held that prisoners facing the gallows could be kept away from other prisoners only when the death sentence became executable. This happens when the convict exhausts all legal remedies, including a decision on his/her mercy petition.
A mercy petition is filed after an appeal against the death sentence is rejected by the apex court. It is submitted either to the state Governor or President, who are vested with constitutional powers to grant pardon, including commutation of death sentence.
Solitary confinement causes severe physical and psychological pain and suffering, the report says, recommending uniform guidelines for states to follow on housing death row inmates.
The Justice Roy-led committee was set up in 2018 following a judgment delivered in the case Inhuman Conditions in 1382 Prisons.
The panel was entrusted with the task of studying the condition of jails in the country, analyse their functioning and ascertain whether they followed the SC judgment on death penalty prisoners.
The committee has submitted five reports dealing with different aspects of jail administration, one of which is related to the condition of death row inmates.
On 30 August, an SC bench led by Justice Hima Kohli took note of all the reports and directed them to be made public. It also asked for the Centre to respond to the suggestions made in the reports and fixed 26 September for further hearing.
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‘Need to correct Model Prison Manual’
The report on death row convicts identified 365 such prisoners languishing in various jails. It adds that 224 cases are pending in appeal before high courts.
The maximum death row convicts, 46, are in Maharashtra, followed by Madhya Pradesh, where 38 prisoners are facing the gallows.
Five states — Goa, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Sikkim — and the Union Territory (UT) of Lakshadweep have not reported any death row convicts, the report adds.
Regarding the 1978 top court ruling, it says the judgment talked about separate incarceration for death row convicts once they had availed of all legal avenues, but prohibited solitary confinement.
The committee also learnt that the Model Prison Manual, 2016, published through the Bureau of Police Research & Development under the Ministry of Home Affairs, has also overlooked the mandate of the 1978 judgment.
The prison manual’s rule 12.08, which specifically deals with death row prisoners, calls for every convict to be confined in a cell in a special yard, apart from all the other prisoners, from the date when he/she is sentenced to death. This is irrespective of whether or not the death sentence has been confirmed by the high court.
Considering that the rules and practices followed in prisons are inconsistent with the apex court order, the panel has called for revisiting and correcting the Model Prison Manual, 2016, so that the norms regarding death row convicts can be applied uniformly.
Different rules in states
The report further reveals differences in practices followed in jails across India on the treatment of death row convicts, including when exactly the prison authorities count a prisoner as a death sentence convict.
Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and the UTs of Delhi and Chandigarh put a prisoner in the death row category only when his/her mercy petition is rejected.
However, in Meghalaya, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, West Bengal and Odisha, every prisoner under death sentence, immediately on his arrival (after pronouncement of the trial court judgment), becomes a death row convict.
Telangana and Uttarakhand follow a different rule. Here prisoners are branded as death row convicts after their respective high courts confirm the death sentence pronounced by trial courts.
According to the report, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Tripura and Delhi informed the panel about confining death row convicts in a separate cell and keeping them under round-the-clock surveillance.
Such convicts are searched as soon as they reach the jail once their sentence is pronounced and all articles are taken away from them, particularly those that are deemed to be dangerous.
Tamil Nadu, in specific, informed the panel that it moves its death row prisoners to “one of the condemned cells”, which does not have a wooden door.
Responses from Bihar and Jammu & Kashmir indicated, according to the report, that the separation of death sentence inmates took place the moment the trial court pronounced its judgment.
Only Gujarat, Haryana, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Punjab do not follow any separation policy for death row convicts, the report states.
The SC panel has advised for translation of all advisories and directions by the home ministry into vernacular languages by respective states and UTs for better understanding and compliance by their prison staff.
It has also recommended uniform guidelines with regard to allocation of work to death row convicts while they are in jail.
The committee quoted the SC’s 2018 judgment on inhuman conditions of prisons to highlight that a death row convict had the same rights as any other convict.
They should be allowed to move in jail like any other prisoner, subject to certain necessary restrictions that may be imposed due to security reasons, the report suggests.
The panel’s observations on the said issue were made because it noticed different sets of rules prevailing in states on work allocation to death row convicts and freedom to move in jails.
Chhattisgarh, Goa, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Punjab, West Bengal, Delhi and Chandigarh allow access of common prison areas to death row prisoners, while Bihar, Odisha, Rajasthan and Jharkhand do not, according to the report.
It, however, found no fault with the states on the point of providing legal aid to death sentence prisoners. This assistance is given to them for filing appeals and mercy petitions.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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