HC initiates PIL to identify kin of inmates who had unnatural

The Delhi High Court today initiated a PIL to identify the kin of prisoners, who had an unnatural death after 2012, and award them suitable compensation.
A bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar took up the issue on the direction of the Supreme Court which on September 15 had asked all the high courts to register suo motu petitions to identify the kin of inmates who died due to unnatural causes.
The bench issued notice to the Centre, the Delhi government, the prison and legal services authority here and the police and sought their responses by November 15 on the issue being examined in the plea.

The apex court's order came while hearing a 2013 PIL on "inhuman" conditions prevailing in 1,382 prisons across the country.
While asking the high courts to take up the issue, the apex court had issued a slew of directions on prison reforms as well as unnatural deaths and directed all state governments to appoint counsellors and support persons for counselling prisoners, particularly first-time offenders.
It had also directed all states to study the availability of medical assistance to prisoners and take remedial steps wherever necessary.

In its order, the apex court had said that custodial death is a crime and such incidents indicate the "apparent disdain" of the State to the life and liberty of prisoners.

Observing that there was no let up in the cases of custodial deaths, the apex court had asserted that there must be a genuine desire to ensure that guarantee to a life of dignity is provided even in prisons, otherwise the fundamental right to life and personal liberty would remain a "dead letter".
If the fundamental right to life and liberty was to be given its true meaning, the Centre and the state governments must accept the reality and not proceed on the basis that prisoners could be treated as "chattel", the apex court had said.