In this series on reforms in the Indian judicial system, I have so far examined the complete breakdown of the system and made a case for comprehensive reforms in the country’s policing. In this part, I take a deep dive into the evolution and current state of the prison system in India, examining what ails it and building a case for urgent structural reforms to be implemented on a fast-track basis.

Before proceeding further, I begin with the assertion that Indian jails still remain a living hell and are in desperate need of urgent reform.

One of the key reasons for the pathetic condition of jails is that, over the past two centuries, they have been among India’s most neglected institutions. They have received the lowest priority — first under British colonial rule and then under successive state governments across the political spectrum since Independence.

In normal times, prisons receive a nominal budgetary outlay. In difficult times, the prison budget faces the harshest cuts. In this context, the observations of the Seventh Finance Commission, headed by J.M. Shelat (1977–1979), are worth recalling. It noted: “Facts show that jails have been neglected for too long and that there has been practically no improvement in the environment… On analysing expenditure incurred on prisons, the Commission was perturbed to find that, with rare exceptions, the level of expenditure on prisoners had been extremely low…"

The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) annually releases data on the number of inmates languishing in Indian jails. As per the latest figures, on 31 December 2022, 5,73,000 Indians were incarcerated — the vast majority of them, 75.8 per cent, were undertrials.

I submit that this statistic tells only half the story. There is no way to estimate the average number of Indians languishing in jail on any given day of the year. And to begin with, let me stress that this number is so large that the “revolving door" of Indian jails is now at a breaking point, teetering on the edge of complete collapse.

Official data compiled by me reveals a harrowing picture. In the past decade alone, over one crore Indians have passed through the revolving door of the prison system. In just two years, 2021 and 2022, 18,06,823 and 18,04,787 people, respectively, were admitted to jails.

In contrast, in 2021, 14,68,627 undertrial prisoners and 93,077 convicts were released. In 2022, the corresponding numbers were 15,48,143 undertrials and 1,25,533 convicts. Of the 15,48,143 undertrial prisoners released in 2022, nearly 95 per cent (14,70,848) were released on bail.

The living conditions in Indian jails make them a living hell — and have remained so for over 200 years. Here is the story in brief.

Circa 1856:

In 1856, Frederick J. Mouat, a British surgeon and prison administrator based in Bengal (later a member of the 1864 Prison Inquiry Committee), presented the following bleak picture in his investigative report on the state of jails in Bengal, Bihar, and Arakan: “It is difficult to imagine any fate more dreadful than that of the Indian life prisoner........

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