home. Such inmates are more desirable to be given earning opportunities. A solution to this problem is to have self-help groups and outsource earning opportunities. In this manner, they get an opportunity to earn wages to send to their families. After the enlightening morning session, the formal session started with Ms. Madhurima, Programme Officer, Prison Reforms Programme, CHRI discussing the rights of prisoners as endowed by the Constitution of India.

She started her session with a discussion on the foundation of advocating prisoners’ rights. The answer can be found in the following sentences, “All persons deprived of their liberty shall be treated with humanity and with respect for the inherent dignity of the human person”( Article 10(1), International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights 1966) and “Are prisoners’ persons? Yes, of course. To answer in the negative is to convict the nation and the Constitution of dehumanisation....” (Sunil Batra v Delhi Administration AIR 1978 SC) 1675. She then discussed the international and national documents and legislations which govern a prison setup.

Internationally, the key instrument on prisons and prisoners’ rights is the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners 1955. It sets out the generally accepted principles and good practices for treatment of prisoners. It is divided into two parts viz. general management of institutions and guiding rules for special categories like convicted prisoners, untried prisoners, mentally ill prisoners, civil prisoners and detenues. Under national sources, the primary source is the Constitution of India, the Prisons Act 1894, judicial pronouncements of the Supreme Court and the High Courts.3 As prisons are a state subject, thus every state has a prison manual which governs the administration of prisons in each particular state.

Accordingly for West Bengal, the West Bengal Correctional Services Act 1992 is the primary source, and then the West Bengal Jail Code. The basic minimum standards that all prisoners are entitled to irrespective of the crime they have committed, or are accused of committing are right to live with human dignity; right to basic minimum needs; right against unnecessary restraint i.e. bar against use of fetters & handcuffs & bar against arbitrary additive prison punishments; right of access to law; right of communication with family, friends & lawyers; right to ventilate their grievances; right to speedy trial; right to legal aid; right to parole and furlough; right of press to interview in certain cases; right to work for proper wages; rlight of freedom of expression within prisons; right to reading material within prisons and the right to be released on due date. All these rights emanate from the Constitution of India and the Supreme Court Judgments.

These rights also find mention under the West Bengal Correctional Services Act 1992. The role of correctional home officers and staff is important in this respect. As they are the primary guardians who come in direct contact with the inmates, it is important that they provide these basic rights available to prisoners. Grievance redressal boxes are one mechanism to ensure that prisoners’ rights are being observed in a particular correctional home. In addition, an active prison visiting system can also be a useful oversight mechanism for ensuring that prisoners’ rights are protected within the four walls of a correctional home.

The next Session focused on issues pertaining to under-trial prisoners. The presentation was given by Ms. Priti Bharadwaj, Project Officer, Prison Reforms Programmed, and CHRI. She stated that India ranks 14th amongst 195 countries in terms of under-trial population but India face as high as 141% overcrowding in prisons. Lack of liberalized bail provisions is certainly one of the major reasons for prolonged and undue detention. Even though the Supreme Court has affirmed on many occasions that speedy trial is an essential element of the criminal justice system and it is the state’s duty to provide it4, yet the pendency of court cases and subsequent pre-trial detention is distressing. The discriminatory nature of the bail system is another factor leading towards it. Majority of under-trials belong to a low socio-economic background. The present system demands high surety amounts which are not in correlation to their economic well-being; this has led to the detention of those who cannot afford to pay the price of liberty.