Overcrowding is more than a decade old problem that the Indian jails have been facing. In a letter dated May 9, 2011, the Ministry of Home Affairs highlighted that the prisons in India were overcrowded to the extent of 129 percent. Of all the total prisoners, 67 percent were undertrial prisoners. According to this figure, pretrial custody times might be unduly lengthy, which would greatly enhance the overcrowding problem. Furthermore, overcrowding brings in problems pertaining to health and hygiene, deteriorating living conditions and also reduces the potential for rehabilitation.

That in the present times as well, out of the total 5,73,220 prisoners, 4,34,302 are under trial prisoners, when already the prisons are overcrowded to the extent of 131.4 percent (NCRB 2022). In these circumstances, to ensure that such undertrial prisoners do not face the wrath of prisons without concrete conviction, open prisons can provide a very viable solution to redress the current problem of overcrowding. Even the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India, vide its landmark judgement in Bhim Singh v. Union of India had issued series of directions to States to ensure the release of undertrial prisoners who had already served half of their maximum prison term while laying down a two-month deadline.

The apex court in 2018 as well, while dealing with a Public Interest Litigation case concerning the issue of overcrowded prisons, observed that it was expected of the State governments to not only utilize the existing open prisons capacity but also increase the capacity of such prisons, if deemed necessary.

In addition to the above, it also becomes increasingly important to highlight the research initiative of the Rajasthan State Legal Services Authority and Hon’ble Mr. Justice KS Jhaveri, wherein it was observed, by means of analyzing comparative data between the central prison at Jaipur and open prison at Sanganer that open prisons are “not resource intensive” but rather “cost effective.” This discussion also gains a spotlight because the NCRB 2022 data explicitly highlights an approximate 34 percent increase in the Actual Expenditure of the Prison Budget from ₹5,814.4 crores in 2020-21 to ₹7,781.9 crores in 2022-23.

Recently, the Allahabad High Court directed the Uttar Pradesh State government to study the open prison concept so as to cater to the personal liberty of inmates and accordingly prepare a scheme towards serving the said cause. Further, the Allahabad High Court also expressed concerns with regards to the families who are dependent on the inmates. The incarceration might also deprive the inmate’s family members of their fundamental rights.

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