In Re-Inhuman Conditions In 1382 Prisons vs. Director General Of Prisons And Correctional Services

COURT NO.11

SECTION PIL-W

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS

Writ Petition(s) (Civil) No(s). 406/2013

IN RE-INHUMAN CONDITIONS IN 1382 PRISONS Petitioner(s)

VERSUS

$&$ ORS.

Respondent(s)

([MR. GAURAV AGRAWAL, ADVOCATE IS AMICUS CURIAE.] IA No. 36553/2024 - APPROPRIATE ORDERS/DIRECTIONS)

Date: 23-04-2024 These matters were called on for hearing today.

CORAM :

HON'BLE MS. JUSTICE HIMA KOHLI HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE AHSANUDDIN AMANULLAH

For Petitioner(s) Mr. Gaurav Agrawal, Sr. Adv., Amicus Curiae

By Post, AOR

	For Respondent(s) Mr. Mahfooz Ahsan Nazki, AOR<br>Mr. Polanki Gowtham, Adv.<br>Mr. Kv Girish Chowdary, Adv.<br>Mr. T Vijaya Bhaskar Reddy, Adv.<br>Ms. Rajeswari Mukherjee, Adv.<br>Mr. Meeran Maqbool, Adv.<br>Ms. Archita Nigam, Adv.
	Mr. Shuvodeep Roy, AOR<br>Mr. Saurabh Tripathi, Adv.<br>Mr. Sumit Kumar, Adv.
	Mr. Abhimanyu Tewari, AOR<br>Ms. Eliza Bar, Adv.
	Ms. Pragati Neekhra, AOR
	Ms. Swati Ghildiyal, AOR<br>Ms. Devyani Bhatt, Adv.

Mr. Surjendu Sankar Das, AOR Mr. Anand Murthi Rao, Adv.

Ms. Neha Singh, Adv.

Mr. B.K. Satija, A.A.G. Mr. Samar Vijay Singh, AOR Mr. Keshav Mittal, Adv. Ms. Sabarni Som, Adv.

- 2 - Mr. Fateh Singh, Adv. Ms. Shashi Singh, Adv. Mr. Vivek Kumar, Adv. Mr. Mahabir Singh, Adv. Mr. Parth Awasthi, Adv. Mr. Pashupathi Nath Razdan, AOR Ms. Maitreyee Jagat Joshi, Adv. Mr. Astik Gupta, Adv. Ms. Inderdeep Kaur Raina, Adv. Mr. Kartikeya Rastogi, Adv. Mr. Rishi Malhotra, AOR Mr. Utkarsh Singh, Adv. Mr. Jaydip Pati, Adv. Mr. V. N. Raghupathy, AOR Mr. Manendra Pal Gupta, Adv. Mr. C. K. Sasi, AOR Ms. Meena K Poulose, Adv. Ms. Anupriya, Adv. Ms. Mrinal Gopal Elker, AOR Mr. Shashwat Parihar, Adv. Mr. Bharat Bagla, Adv. Mr. Siddharth Dharmadhikari, Adv. Mr. Aaditya Aniruddha Pande, AOR Mr. Sourav Singh, Adv. Mr. Aditya Krishna, Adv. Mr. Preet S. Phanse, Adv. Mr. Adarsh Dubey, Adv. Mr. Pukhrambam Ramesh Kumar, AOR Mr. Karun Sharma, Adv. Mrs. Anupama Ngangom, Adv. Ms. Rajkumari Divyasana, Adv. Mr. Avijit Mani Tripathi, AOR Mr. Upendra Mishra, Adv. Mr. P. S. Negi, Adv. Mr. T.K. Nayak, Adv. Ms. Marbiang Khongwir, Adv. Mr. Vikas Bansal, Adv. Mr. Siddhesh Shirish Kotwal, AOR Ms. K. Enatoli Sema, AOR Ms. Limayinla Jamir, Adv. Mr. Amit Kumar Singh, Adv. Ms. Chubalemla Chang, Adv.

- 3 - Mr. Prang Newmai, Adv. Ms. Anindita Pujari, AOR Ms. Radhika Rani Mohapatra, Adv. Mr. Shaileshwar Yadav, Adv. Mrs. Bhumika Chouksey, Adv. Mr. Karan Sharma, AOR Ms. Urvi Kashiwal, Adv. Ms. Princy Sharma, Adv. Mr. Shiv Mangal Sharma, A.A.G. Mr. Saurabh Rajpal, Adv. Ms. Nidhi Jaswal, Adv. Ms. Shalini Singh, Adv. Mr. Sandeep Kumar Jha, AOR Mr. Raghvendra Kumar, AOR Mr. Anand Kumar Dubey, Adv. Mr. Devvrat Singh, Adv. Mr. Simanta Kumar, Adv. Mr. Jainendra Kumar, Adv. Mr. Amit Anand Tiwari, Sr. A.A.G. Mr. Sabarish Subramanian, AOR Ms. Devyani Gupta, Adv. Mr. Vishnu Unnikrishnan, Adv. Mr. Naman Dwivedi, Adv. Mr. C Kranthi Kumar, Adv. Ms. Tanvi Anand, Adv. Mr. Danish Saifi, Adv. Mr. Siddharth Sangal, AOR Ms. Garima Prasad, Sr. A.A.G. Mr. Pradeep Misra, AOR Mr. Daleep Dhyani, Adv. Mr. Suraj Singh, Adv. Mr. Manoj Kumar Sharma, Adv. Ms. Anju Thomas, Adv. Ms. Astha Sharma, AOR Mr. Shreyas Awasthi, Adv. Ms. Lihzu Shiney Konyak, Adv. Mr. K.M. Natraj, Adv. Mrs. Aishwariya Bahti, A.S.G. Mr. Mukesh Kumar Maroria, AOR Mr. R. Bala, Adv. Mrs. Suhasini Sen, Adv. Mr. Ishaan Sharma, Adv.

Mrs. Indira Bhakar, Adv. Mrs. Mrinal Elkar Mazumdar, Adv. Mr. Harish Pandey, Adv. Mr. Vineet Singh, Adv. Mrs. Shagun Thakur, Adv. Mr. Kamlendra Mishra, Adv. Mr. Rajesh Singh Chauhan, Adv. Mr. Piyush Beriwal, Adv. Mr. Kanu Agrawal, Adv. Mr. Varun Chugh, Adv. Mr. Bhuvan Kapoor, Adv. Mr. Krishna Kant Dubey, Adv. Mr. Shashwat Parihar, Adv. Mrs. Aishwariya Bahti, A.S.G. Mr. K.M. Natraj, A. S. G. Mr. Mukesh Kumar Maroria, AOR Mr. R. Bala, Adv. Mrs. Suhasini Sen, Adv. Mr. Ishaan Sharma, Adv. Mrs. Indira Bhakar, Adv. Mrs. Mrinal Elkar Mazumdar, Adv. Mr. Harish Pandey, Adv. Mrs. Shagun Thakur, Adv. Mr. Kamlendra Mishra, Adv. Mr. Rajesh Singh Chauhan, Adv. Mr. Piyush Beriwal, Adv. Mr. Kanu Agrawal, Adv. Mr. Varun Chugh, Adv. Mr. Bhuvan Kapoor, Adv. Mr. Krishna Kant Dubey, Adv. Mr. Shashwat Parihar, Adv. Mr. Durgesh Ramchandra Gupta, AOR Mr. Vikas Verma, Adv. Mrs. Sapna Verma, Adv. Mr. Mayank Choudhary, Adv. Mr. Shafik Ahmed, Adv. Mr. Danish Saifi, Adv. Ms. Anju, Adv. Mr. Bibhav Kumar Singh, Adv. Mr. Shahid Akhtar, Adv. Ms. Pallavi Langar, AOR Ms. Namita Choudhary, AOR Mr. Ashutosh Kumar Sharma, Adv. Ms. Srishti Choudhary, Adv. Mr. Shiv Mangal Sharma, A.A.G. Mr. Saurabh Rajpal, Adv.

- 5 - Ms. Nidhi Jaswal, Adv. Ms. Shalini Singh, Adv. Mr. Sandeep Kumar Jha, AOR Mr. Samir Ali Khan, AOR Mr. Pranjal Sharma, Adv. Mr. Abhimanyu Jhamba, Adv. Mr. Kashif Irshad Khan, Adv. Ms. Raman Deep Kaur, Adv. Mr. Abhishek Pandey, Adv. Mr. Prashant Kumar Umrao, AOR Ms. Neha Ahlawat, Adv. Ms. Rashmi Nandakumar, AOR Ms. Hema Sahu, Adv. Mr. Rishabh Sahu, Adv. Mr. C L Sahu, Adv. Mr. Rajendra Sahu, AOR Ms. Kamlesh Jain, Adv. Mr. Rishabh Sahu, Adv. Ms. Aishwarya Bhati, A.S.G. Mr. R Bala, Sr. Adv. Mr. Gurmeet Singh Makker, AOR Ms. Suhashini Sen, Adv. Mr. Kamlendra Mishra, Adv. Mr. Ishaan Sharma, Adv. Mr. Sarthak Karol, Adv. Ms. Ameyvikrama Thanvi, Adv. Mr. Anando Mukherjee, AOR Ms. Ekta Bharati, Adv. Mr. Shwetank Singh, Adv. Mr. Chandra Prakash, AOR Mr. Tapesh Kumar Singh, A.A.G. Mr. Shantanu Sagar, AOR Mr. Prabhat Ranjan Raj, Adv. Mr. Anil Kumar, Adv. Mr. Gunjesh Ranjan, Adv. Mr. Aditya Singh, Adv. Mr. Vaibhav Jain, Adv. Mr. Salvador Santosh Rebello, AOR Mr. Raghav Sharma, Adv. Mr. Jaskirat Pal Singh, Adv. Ms. Kritika Grover, Adv. Mr. Prateek Tanmay, Adv.

Mr. Deepanshu Raj, Adv. Mr. Gaurav Agrawal, AOR Mr. R Venkataramani, Attorney General for India Ms. Aishwarya Bhati, A.S.G. Mr. R Bala, Sr. Adv. Mrs. Suhashini Sen, Adv. Mr. Ashok Panigrahi, Adv. Mr. B K Satija, Adv. Mr. Ishaan Sharma, Adv. Mr. Kartikay Agrawal, Adv. Mr. Abhishek Kumar Pandey, Adv. Mr. Chitvan Singhal, Adv. Mr. Raman Yadav, Adv. Mr. Mukesh Kumar Singh, Adv. Mrs. Ameya Vikrama Thanvi, Adv. Mr. Arvind Kumar Sharma, AOR Mr. Durgesh Gupta, AOR Mr. Ajay Verma, Adv. Mr. Vaishnav Kirti Singh, Adv. Mr. Gaurav Jain, Adv. Mrs. Abha Jain, AOR Ms. Kamlesh Jain, Adv.

UPON hearing the counsel the Court made the following O R D E R

1. Shri Gaurav Agrawal, learned Amicus Curiae states that he has filed a brief note for today's hearing and has summarized the details of the information received in respect of the States of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Chhattisgarh.

2. He submits that detailed reports have also been received from six other States, namely, (1) Andhra Pradesh, (2) Haryana, (3) Maharashtra, (4) Odisha, (5) West Bengal and (6) Madhya Pradesh. Some time is sought to examine the said affidavits and submit a report within two weeks.

3. Learned Amicus Curiae points out that reports are still awaited from nine

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States, namely, (1) Telangana, (2) Kerala (3) Karnataka, (4) Jharkhand, (5) Rajasthan, (6) Himachal Pradesh, (7) Assam, (8) Tamil Nadu and (9) Gujarat.

4. Learned counsel appearing for the aforesaid State Governments have been cautioned to take the matter seriously and file their reports, if not already filed, within two weeks from today with copies furnished to the learned Amicus Curiae. The reports shall be filed on affidavits sworn by the respective Chief Secretaries of the concerned States. The said reports shall not only collate information on the facilities that are lacking in jails and the recommendations made by the Committee, but also furnished specific information furnished on the action proposed to be taken within a fixed timeline to address the issues raised.

5. As regards the States/Union Territories of (1) Sikkim, (2) Manipur, (3) Goa, (4) Mizoram, (5) Andaman and Nicobar, (6) Meghalaya, (7) Ladakh, (8) Nagaland and (9) Tripura, it is submitted that the prison population in the said States/UTs is not very large. However, some recommendations have been made by the Committees of each of the aforesaid States/UTs and it is now for the State Governments/UTs to examine the said recommendations and take action on the same.

6. The respective Chief Secretaries of the aforesaid States/UTs shall examine the recommendations made and file their affidavits specifying the time lines within which the recommendations shall be implemented.

Contd..

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7. It has been brought to our notice that in some States the District Magistrates and Superintendent of Police, who are a part of the Committees constituted by this Court have not been participating in the deliberations despite direction issued. All the Members, who have been appointed to the Committees shall ensure that they participate in the meetings that are conducted so that a comprehensive report can be submitted to the Court, after being examined by the Chief Secretaries of the respective States Governments, who shall then file affidavits as to the manner in which implementation of the said recommendations shall be made within fixed timeline.

8. Coming back to the summary of the reports prepared by the learned Amicus Curiae in respect of the States of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Chhattisgarh, we find that except for referring to the recommendations made by the respective Committees, none of the aforesaid State Governments have filed affidavits through their Chief Secretaries setting out the manner in which the said recommendations shall be implemented and the timelines within which the same shall be done.

9. The Chief Secretaries of the States of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Chhattisgarh shall file their respective affidavits mentioning the milestones for implementing the recommendations made by the Committees along with the relevant details.

10. Similarly, wherever reports have been received but the timelines for

contd..

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implementation of the recommendations of the Committees have not been mentioned, the Chief Secretaries of the respective State Governments/UTs shall file additional affidavits stating inter alia the manner in which implementation shall be made along with the milestones. The said affidavits shall be filed within two weeks from today.

11. Learned Amicus Curiae points out that there is some ambiguity in the affidavit filed by the State of U.P. The same shall be closely examined by the learned Additional Advocate General and a response be given directly to the learned Amicus Curiae.

12. List on 14th May, 2024, at the top of the Board.

(NEETU SACHDEVA) (NAND KISHOR) ASTT. REGISTRAR-cum-PS COURT MASTER (NSH)