The Supreme Court said the underuse of open correctional institutions is a “very serious issue” even as prisons across states remain overcrowded. The Court plans to issue a detaailed mandate after noting states’ poor response on utilising open prisons.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday said that the problem of underusing open correctional institutions across India is a “very serious issue,” especially when most states are struggling with overcrowded jails.
Open or semi-open prisons were originally created to help prisoners slowly return to society and rebuild their lives, but many such facilities remain half empty.
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A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta made this remark while hearing an application filed by the Kerala government. Kerala asked for permission to use 257 acres of a 457-acre open prison land for the BrahMos defence project and other government facilities.
The state told the court that 180 acres are required for the BrahMos project, 45 acres for the Sashastra Seema Bal, and another 32 acres for a national forensic sciences laboratory.
Senior advocate K Parameshwar, assisting the Supreme Court as amicus curiae in the matter of prison congestion, supported the Kerala government’s request.
Additional Solicitor General S V Raju also appeared for the Centre and said that the BrahMos project is a “national defence project.” The bench accepted the state’s application.
During the hearing, the Supreme Court turned its focus to the issue of unused open correctional institutions. Referring to the point raised by the amicus, the bench observed,
“Now, the amicus has highlighted the issue of underutilisation of the OCI facilities in the country. It is a very serious issue because on the one side, the states are facing the difficulty of overcrowding of prisons and on the other hand, the OCIs are available and are not being utilised.”
The judges then asked the Centre why a clear national policy cannot be made on the use of such facilities. The amicus responded,
“They have done that. The Union has framed not only a manual, they have also given draft model prison rules.”
He added that the Centre has been continuously writing to all states, urging them to make full use of open prisons so that overcrowding in regular jails can be reduced.
He told the court that in at least six to seven states, these open institutions are running at only 50–60% of their capacity. In some states, women prisoners are not allowed to enter open prisons at all.
On this point, the bench noted concerns related to safety and said,
“Perhaps the issue of security would be very relevant for the reason that these facilities function without very tight security. Two-three guards are more than enough. So if they place women, the issue of security could come.”
The amicus replied that it is up to each state to work out these issues, to which the bench agreed and said,
“You are right. It has to be done.”
The judges also expressed concern that states are not responding actively to the issue and told the amicus,
“What we will do is, since the states are least interested in responding, we will consider your note and pass a detailed mandate.”
The court made it clear that existing facilities must be put to proper use and observed that
“whatever is there, that should be utilised.”
Earlier, the Supreme Court had already said that creating more open prisons could help reduce overcrowding in jails and also improve rehabilitation for inmates.
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