Prisons Act, 1894

The Union of India moved a writ petition under Art. 32 seeking to quash a Tamil Nadu Government letter proposing remission of life sentences for seven convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, after the Supreme Court had earlier commuted death sentences of three of them to life imprisonment. The Court examined w…

Several convicts sentenced to life imprisonment filed writ petitions challenging Rule 8(2)(i) of the Rajasthan Prisons (Shortening of Sentences) Rules, 2006, which required them to serve 14 years of actual imprisonment and earn a minimum of four years of remission before their cases could be considered for remission. T…

Jagdish, a Class‑3 life convict sentenced in 1999, applied for premature release after serving more than ten years. The High Court ordered his case to be considered under the remission policy dated 04‑02‑1993, rejecting the newer short‑sentencing policy of 13‑08‑2008. The State appealed, arguing that the later policy, …

The Supreme Court entertained a batch of writ petitions filed under Article 32 by death‑row convicts and their families alleging that the executive had unreasonably delayed the disposal of their mercy petitions under Articles 72 and 161, and that other supervening circumstances such as mental illness, solitary confinem…

The respondent, convicted of multiple serious offences including rape and assault, applied for furlough under the Bombay Furlough and Parole Rules. The Director General of Police (DGP) rejected the application, citing the respondent's criminal conduct, threats to witnesses, illegal activities in jail, and the risk to p…

Vikash Tiwary, a life convict serving a sentence for multiple offences, was transferred by the Inspector General of Prisons from Hazaribagh Central Jail to Central Jail, Dumka on 17 May 2023 after the jail superintendent warned of a potential gang war and insufficient staff to control notorious inmates. The respondent …

The appellant, a visitor to a central prison in Punjab, was searched and found carrying a mobile phone and charger, leading to an FIR under Sections 42 and 45 of the Prisons Act, 1894. The High Court dismissed his petition under Section 482 of the CrPC to quash the FIR, holding that the possession of the phone indicate…

The petitioner, Rohit Chaturvedi, was convicted for murder under Sections 120B and 302 IPC and sentenced to life imprisonment in 2007. After serving more than twenty‑two years, he sought premature release, which was recommended by the Uttarakhand State Government but rejected by the Ministry of Home Affairs in a letter…

The petitioners, led by Asha Ranjan, sought the transfer of accused M. Shahabuddin, a notorious history‑sheeter involved in the murder of the petitioner's husband and other crimes, from Siwan Jail in Bihar to Tihar Jail in Delhi, and the conduct of his pending trials via video‑conferencing. The core issue was whether t…

The Court considered an interlocutory application filed under Article 32 seeking that prisoners sentenced to death be treated on par with other convicts and that solitary confinement be struck down. It examined when a convict becomes a ‘death‑row prisoner’, holding that the status arises only when the death sentence is…

Ajay Kumar Pal was sentenced to death by a Special CBI Judge on 9 April 2007, a sentence confirmed by the Jharkhand High Court and the Supreme Court on 16 March 2010. He filed a mercy petition on 10 April 2010, which was forwarded immediately but only disposed of after a delay of three years and ten months, with the Pr…

Phool Kumari was convicted under IPC sections 323, 342, 307 and 34 and sentenced to rigorous imprisonment, later reduced to five years. While incarcerated in Tihar Central Jail she was assigned work as a Sewadar in the Medical Inspection room. She claimed wages for the work done, but the prison superintendent and a vis…

The petitioners, life‑imprisoned convicts in Goa, were released on parole under the Goa Prisons Rules, 2006 and subsequently applied for premature release on the ground that they had completed 14 years of actual imprisonment. The High Court held that the period spent on parole must be excluded from the calculation of t…

B.A. Umesh was convicted for rape and murder and sentenced to death in 2006. He filed a mercy petition in 2011, which was disposed of after a two‑year‑three‑month period by the Governor and the President, while a stay of execution was in force. The appellant also alleged that he was kept in solitary confinement from 20…

The State of Haryana challenged a High Court order directing the State to draft a fresh remission policy under Article 161 and to apply the 2008 policy for premature release of Raj Kumar, who had served 12 years and 25 days of a life sentence. The Supreme Court examined the interplay between the constitutional power of…

Parveen Kumar was convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment in 2009. In 2022 he applied for remission under the 2002 Haryana remission policy, which required the Governor’s approval under Article 161 of the Constitution, but his application was rejected on the ground that the later 2008 policy, issued unde…