Prison is place for reformation, not mental trauma, says Madras HC

CHENNAI: The idea behind confining convicts in prison is to reform rather than subject them to further torture and pushing into mental trauma, observed the Madras High Court and directed the State to proceed with the disciplinary proceedings against the prison officials utilising convicted persons for household chores.

A division bench of Justice SM Subramaniam and Justice V Sivagnanam authored a judgment with a quote from Mahatma Gandhi, “All criminals should be treated as patients and the jails should be the hospitals for treatment and cure”, while disposing of a petition moved by the mother of a convict prisoner at Vellore claiming that the jail authorities were torturing the prisoner.

The bench also directed the Director General of Police (DGP) to conduct surprise inspections at all prisons to ensure that no convicts are engaged or employed for household works at jail authorities’ residences.

The bench also directed to proceed with the departmental disciplinary action against the jail authorities including the deputy DIG of prisons Vellore and conclude the investigation expeditiously.

The petitioner S Kalavathi moved the court stating that her son Sivakumar, a life convict, is being physically tortured by the Vellore prison authorities. It was submitted that he was pressurised to do household chores at the residence of the Deputy Inspector General of Prisons Vellore. The jail authorities are physically torturing her son by alleging that he stole silver jewellery and other belongings worth Rs 4.5 lakh from the deputy DIG of prisons, she said.

Advocate P Pugalenthi for the petitioner submitted that the prison authorities violated the prison rules and rules of natural justice by keeping Sivakumar in solitary confinement.

The report of the chief judicial magistrate Vellore, under the direction of the bench made it evident that the son of the petitioner was being utilised at the residence of jail authorities to do household work and physically tortured.

After the report, the State initiated disciplinary action against the erred officials and suspended them from the service.

While disposing of the petition, the bench wrote that people from the vulnerable and disadvantaged sections of society are most often convicted and lodged in prisons. Prisons should serve as a place of introspection to bring out more humaneness in them rather than pushing them into mental trauma to commit further crimes, added the bench.