The concept of Open prisons was first developed in U.K in the 1930s and was based on the idea of ‘carrots’ rather than ‘sticks’.
Anjinesh Anjay Shukla
High Court Advocate Chhattisgarh
Anjinesh Anjay Shukla, a right winger or a Pro-Hindu dedicated legal professional, who navigates the intricate complexities of the litigation world, acknowledging the personal sacrifices yet who finds solace in the positive impact he brings to people’s lives. He firmly believes that when we are born, our cradle is Mother Earth and when we die we go back to her again to rest in peace. So, We are indebted to the Mother Earth for all worldly goodness. So I feel I owe to my Bharat Mata hence I am keen on serving the society and I feel there is no better way than being a lawyer. One of his legal achievement includes registering his case namely Anand Mati Yadav v. State of Chhattisgarh, 2019 SCC OnLine Chh 92 , In the Supreme Court Cases . Beyond his legal triumph Anjinesh’s impactful work extends to launching “Covid Help – Raipur” group in various districts of Chhattisgarh also raising awareness campaign in the remote villages of Chhattisgarh to bust COVID Vaccine Myth, this community-driven initiatives were not only applauded and appreciated on many occasions by senior state dignitaries but also awarded .
A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has been registered suo moto in the Chhattisgarh high court to inspect the feasibility of implementing the concept of open jails in the state.
The administration and management of the modern prison system in India is governed by the Prisons Act of 1894, which has its origins in the recommendations of the “Prison Discipline Committee” appointed in 1836 by Lord Macaulay, followed by constitution of four jail commissions to review the system from time to time. With the noble idea of ensuring human rights and dignity of prisoners and their reformation and rehabilitation, the All India Jail Manual Committee (1957–59) recommended, inter-alia, setting up of open prison institutions (1960: 96–99) this was extensively discussed in the first United Nation Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders held in Geneva in 1955. The concept of Open prisons was first developed in U.K in the 1930s and was based on the idea of ‘carrots’ rather than ‘sticks’. In independent India, the first ever open-air camp was set up and attached to the Model Prison at Lucknow in 1949.
The Model Prison Manual classifies open prison institutions in India into three types: 1. Semi-Open Training Institutions 2. Open Training Institutions/ Open Work Camps 3. Open Colonies. Semi-Open Training Institutions are generally attached to the closed prisons and are relatively more under security surveillance. Those prisoners who show reformation potential are made eligible for further transfer to open prisons and colonies. Open Training Institutions/Work Camps are initiated where activities, like digging canals, water channels, construction of dams, roads, government buildings and prison buildings, projects of land reclamation and bringing uncultivated land under cultivation, soil conservation and afforestation, can be organised. In Open Colonies, Inmates and their family members are given opportunities to work in agriculture or other allied suitable means of livelihood as can be conveniently organised. Wages paid to the inmates and family members are at par with outside wages. The inmates are to maintain themselves and their families with the wages earned by them in the colony. Minimum standards, as prescribed for the closed institutions, regarding accommodation, equipment, sanitation, hygiene, medical services, diet and welfare services, are maintained. Extra concessions like remission, leave and review are granted to the inmates of these open institutions. There are no restrictions on the prisoners in respect of reading materials and are allowed to pursue studies through open universities. As laid down in Ramamurthy v. State of Karnataka (1997) 2 SCC 642 , Thought of Open Prison is due to Overcrowding, 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. 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).
Coming to the role of judiciary, the landmark case of Sunil Batra v. Delhi Administration set the constitutional dimensions of a person behind the bars. The cases like “Charles Shobhraj” and “Sheela Barse ” further sculpted the path to constitutional rights of a prisoner, more specifically, Article 21 of the Constitution which reads the concept of open air prisons. 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. 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.
Advantages Of Open Prison : the operational cost of the jail reduces. l It improves the psychological and mental health of the prisoners. l It promotes a reformative form of punishment and succeeds in transforming the lives of inmates. l It serves the societal objective of penal sentencing. l It helps in successful integration of the prisoners into society upon their release. l There are lesser chances of recidivism in the prisoners. l The prisoners can live with their families if family cottage is provided in the open jail like in Lalgola Open Jail in Murshidabad district of West Bengal, where there is provision of 20 family cottages. Open prisons are reminiscent of the Gandhian Ashrams where the emphasis is on shared communal living on cooperative basis along with efforts for development of moral character, which in turn has great reformatory potential. l Having been neglected by their families, old age prisoners find it difficult to fend for them upon release as they get accustomed to a life in prison, dependent on care by fellow inmates. Open jails can help in bringing these prisoners back to normal life.
The reformatory theory of justice postulates removing the dangerous degeneracy in a criminal and afford them a chance to make a fresh start. Justice V R Krishna Iyer rightly says, “Every saint has a past and every sinner a future, never write off the man wearing the criminal attire but remove the dangerous degeneracy in him, restore his retarded human potential by holistic healing of his fevered, fatigued or frustrated inside and by repairing the repressive, though hidden, injustice of the social order which is vicariously guilty of the criminal behaviour of many innocent convicts. Law must rise with life and jurisprudence responds to humanism”.
