In jail, the scavengers should clean the prisoners, Brahmins should prepare the food, where did this practice start from, on which Chief Justice Chandrachud gave his/her opinion

New Delhi: A Brahmin can wear a ‘sacred thread’ or a Muslim has the right to wear trousers of a certain length. Food will be cooked by prisoner cooks of the appropriate caste under the supervision of the jail officer. Sweepers should be selected from the Mehatar or Hari caste. If they do similar work according to the custom of the district or if a prisoner from any caste is willing to do this work voluntarily, he/she can be engaged in cleaning toilets. These things have been said in the jail manual of many states of the country including UP, Bihar, West Bengal. That is, the caste system is deeply ingrained even inside the jails. After the publication of a report, when the Rajasthan government changed the jail manual, the talk of such a change arose in the rest of the states of the country. Let us know what is the matter on which the Supreme Court has taken such a strict stand. What is the jail manual and why is it not being changed simultaneously in the whole country.

When CJI asked UP government- what is the duty of manual scavengers

During the hearing in the Supreme Court, the advocates appearing on behalf of the Uttar Pradesh government said that there is no discrimination on the basis of caste in their jails and the work has been distributed on the basis of the physical and mental fitness of any prisoner. While reading this answer, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court (CJI) said in a strict tone that what do you mean by the scavengers class … do you want to say that they have become accustomed to this work? Rule 158 mentions the duty of scavenging. What is this duty of scavenging? It mentions the caste of the scavengers. What does this mean? The CJI said, ‘Whoever is a prisoner in the jail …’ I do not want to read this part. In this case, we will decide the role of the District Legal Services Authority.

Responses were sought from 10 states, but only 5 responded

The Supreme Court has sought answers from 10 states including Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu regarding caste discrimination inside jails and giving work to prisoners on the basis of caste. The situation is such that even after six months of hearing of this case in January, only Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal have filed their answers in the court. This entire matter reached the Supreme Court due to the efforts of journalist Sukanya Shanta. A bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Mishra is hearing this case.

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Conditions in UP and Uttarakhand jails are worse

According to a 2021 report on prisons by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), more prisoners are being stuffed in prisons than their capacity. The crowd of prisoners has increased to 130 percent of the capacity. That is, on an average, 13 prisoners are living in a space meant for 10 people. At the same time, this average in Uttar Pradesh is 208 percent, while in the prisons of Uttarakhand this average is 300 percent. Currently, 5,73,000 prisoners are lodged in jails in the country, of which about 75 percent are kept due to remand or custody and their trial is going on.

Upper caste people will cook and lower caste people will clean toilets

In fact, a PIL filed in the Supreme Court in January exposed the caste rot in prisons in UP, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi and Tamil Nadu, where cooking jobs are allocated to dominant castes, while specific lower castes are assigned menial jobs like sweeping and cleaning toilets.

Barracks are allotted on the basis of caste, this is a violation of Article 21

Supreme Court advocate Shivaji Shukla says that the PIL states that discriminatory practices prevail in the jails of many states of the country, where work is divided on the basis of caste. Even the barracks are kept on the basis of caste. Caste-based work division is considered a relic of colonial India and is considered humiliating and painful. It violates the prisoners’ right to live with dignity i.e. Article 21 of the Constitution.

Being a prisoner does not make one lose the right to equality

According to Shivaji Shukla, the petition cited the Supreme Court’s decision in Sunil Batra vs Delhi Administration (1978) on the fundamental rights of prisoners, which said that a person does not lose fundamental rights or the right to equality just by being a prisoner. A three-judge bench headed by the Chief Justice of India found that prison manuals in more than 10 states practice caste-based discrimination and forced division of work. These states are Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Jharkhand, Kerala, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Telangana, Punjab and Tamil Nadu. At that time, the Supreme Court had issued a notice and sought a reply from the states and the Center within four weeks.

We are carrying 130 years old laws made by the British

Shivaji Shukla explains that Indian prisons are functioning according to a 130-year-old law, which needs to be changed. India’s criminal justice system, rooted in the colonial legacy of the British Raj, focuses primarily on punishment rather than reform or rehabilitation. This prison manual, the ‘Prison Act, 1894’ created by the British government, reveals the outdated nature of the legal framework. Highlighting these shortcomings, the Union Home Ministry included the Model Prison Act, 2023, which mentions the Model Prison Manual.

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Despite the ban on the practice of manual scavenging, it continues in jail

According to the Prison Manual, despite the 2013 Act banning the practice of manual scavenging, it allows caste discrimination and manual scavenging in prisons. It promotes the practice of manually cleaning, handling and disposing of human excreta and other waste material from toilets, open drains and sewers.

What are the Nelson Mandela rules, which were adopted by the UN

The United Nations General Assembly adopted the Nelson Mandela Rules in 2015, which emphasized respect and non-discrimination for all prisoners. The Union Home Ministry had advised the states to adopt the Model Prison Manual, 2016 based on the Nelson Mandela Rules. It is named after South African reformist leader and former President Nelson Mandela.

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Why is there no uniform jail manual across the country, what is the problem

Supreme Court advocate Shivaji Shukla says that jail is a state subject. In such a situation, the states are completely free to adopt the central government’s jail manual model. Also, a uniform law has not been made for jails across the country. However, if the Parliament wants, it can make a law in this regard according to the Supreme Court’s guidelines. It has been said in the model jail manual that there will be a complete ban on managing the kitchen or cooking food on the basis of caste or religion in the jail. Also, any kind of special treatment to the prisoner on the basis of his/her caste or religion is also prohibited.

Inhuman practices abolished in Delhi, Goa, Maharashtra jails

In many states, inhuman and unconstitutional practices in prisons have been abolished. Delhi, Goa, Maharashtra and Odisha have taken several steps in this direction, but complete human reform is still a far cry. Many inhuman practices like using shackles and whips as punishment have been abolished. Caste-based occupations have also been abolished in prisons in some states.