AMN / NEW DELHI
The Supreme Court today passed a slew of directions on prison reforms today. It has directed all state governments to appoint counsellors and support persons for counselling prisoners, particularly first-time offenders.
It also directed all states to study the availability of medical assistance to prisoners and take remedial steps wherever necessary.
A bench of Justices M B Lokur and Deepak Gupta directed Chief Justices of the high courts to register a ‘suo motu’ public interest litigation with a view to identify the next of kin of prisoners who have admittedly died an unnatural death as revealed by the National Crime Records Bureau during the period between 2012 and 2015 and even thereafter and to award suitable compensation.
The top court also directed the Ministry of Woman and Child Development to discuss with the official concerned of the state governments and formulate procedures for tabulating the number of children, if any, who suffer an unnatural death in child care institutions where they are kept in custody either because they are in conflict with law or because they need care and protection.
The bench was hearing a 2013 PIL on prevailing inhuman conditions prevailing in 1,382 prisons across the country.