Chhattisgarh High Court asks State to study feasibility of having open prisons

The Chhattisgarh High Court recently ordered the State government to conduct research and examine if it would be feasible to implement the concept of open jails in the State [Suo Motu PIL vs State of Chhattisgarh]..A division bench of Chief Justice Ramesh Sinha and Justice Ravindra Kumar Agrawal took note of data indicating that 82 children were living with female prisoners in jail."...the total capacity of jails is 15,485 against which 19,476 prisoners are confined and a total number of 1,843 prisoners and skilled professionals, 504 are senior citizens and 3 prisoners had tried to escape the jail. This report shows that the number of prisoners confined in the jails is much higher than its actual capacity," the bench further noted. The Court also observed that over 340 convicts had been sentenced to undergo more than 20 years in jail and their appeals had been dismissed by the Supreme Court."What would be the plight of those inmates, who have to remain in confinement for such long period of time can be easily understood," the Court remarked..The bench made the observation while dealing with a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) case initiated by the Court to explore the possibility of implementing the concept of open prisons in Chhattisgarh. The matter drew the interest of the Court after it received letters from the parents of a man who had been in jail for murder since 2010.The parents had expressed concern that their son's appeal against his criminal conviction had been pending before the High Court since 2014. However, on queries, the Court found that the appeal had been dismissed by the High Court in 2023..The bench went on to note that when a criminal is confined in jail, it is not only he who suffers. Rather, if the prisoner was the sole bread-earner of the family, the entire family suffered, the Court remarked."After undergoing long period of incarceration, when the prisoner is released at the fag end of his life, he is unable to sustain himself and his family in any manner and as such, it is the duty of the State to explore all the possibilities which may help an inmate to lead a normal life of a law abiding citizen, when he is released," the bench underscored..The Court further noted that the paradigm of reformative punishment does not support having traditional jails with bars but is more liberal and supports the concept of open prisons, which involves having trust-based prisons with minimum security."The concept of open jails is not new in India and the States of Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Himachal Pradesh have the maximum number of active open prisons. An open jails provides a congenial atmosphere which would help the offender to socialise even before he is actually released from the jail," the Court observed.The bench added that there are quite a good number of prisoners who are skilled professionals and whose services could be utilised to implement the concept of open prisons in Chhattisgarh. In turn, such prisoners could also earn something for their own future, the Court said.With these observations, the bench ordered the State's Chief Secretary to file an affidavit by April 15, indicating if open prisons would be feasible for Chhattisgarh or not. .Advocate General Prafulla N Bharat along with Additional Advocate General YS Thakur appeared for the State. .[Read Order]