The Supreme Court on Thursday said the provisions of Centre’s ‘Model Prisons and Correctional Services Act’ of 2023 do not contain a reference to the prohibition of caste-based discrimination in jails.
The observation to this effect was made by a bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra in a landmark judgement by which it banned banned caste-based discrimination like division of manual labour, segregation of barracks and bias against prisoners of denotified tribes and habitual offenders.
The Union Ministry of Home Affairs, in consultation with various stakeholders, had prepared a draft legislation to replace previous “colonial legislations” which were “found to be outdated and obsolete”.
The MHA told the bench that the Model Act was “a comprehensive document which covers all relevant aspects of prison management, viz. security, safety, scientific & technological interventions, segregation of prisoners, special provision for women inmates, taking appropriate action against criminal activities of prisoners in the prison, grant of parole and furlough to prisoners, their education, vocational training and skill development, etc.”