SHOULD PRISONERS BE TREATED AS EQUAL CITIZENS: RIGHT TO VOTE A WAY FORWARD?
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DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55662/Abstract
“Fundamental rights do not flee the persons as he enters the prison although they might suffer shrinkage necessitated by incarceration”.
The prison and persons detained therein have once again come to the forefront of the discussion in the context of the ongoing pandemic and the deteriorating conditions in Indian prisons.
‘Prisons’ are a State subject under Entry 4 of List II of the Seventh Schedule in the Constitution of India. It basically means that administration and law-making falls under the purview of respective State Legislative Assembly. Hence, the prison legislations of different states vary in their content. Although the Ministry of Home Affairs advises the States and UTs on various Prison matters. The Prison Act, 1894 has been an ideal set of rules and regulation for Indian States while formulating their respective Prison Laws. But the issue with this is that the source laws being referred to here are archaic and focus alone on maintaining discipline, prison offences and the punishment for these offences.
Prisoners are forgotten human beings once they enter the gates of a prison. Prisons in India often get a bad name for the inhumane living conditions that the prisoners must face, from torture by prison authorities and fellow inmates, degrading accommodation, nutrient poor food and the list goes on and on. They are denied the most basic needs what to talk of the other higher rights that have been taken away just in the name of them being prisoners.
It has been established from time to time that the prisoners continue to be humans and deserve basic human rights even after being convicted for a crime. Preservation of rights of such people become necessary as their movement is restricted and they are put in isolation away from the society. Thus, prisoners are entitled to the rights like any other citizen of a country except those, which are taken away or temporarily suspended for the duration of their incarceration hence, establishing that the fundamental rights of the prisoner are not absolute.
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