By Our Correspondent
NEW DELHI:A bench of Supreme Court justices of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta in its judgment on 26 February 2026 issued slew of directions including forming High-Powered Committee for Reform and Governance of Open Correctional Institutions (OCIs) with Justice (Retd) Ravindra Bhat as the Executive Chairperson to streamline Open Prisons in India within three months on a PIL [W.P.(C). 1082 of 2020] filed by human rights activist, Suhas Chakma, regarding overcrowding in prisons and inhumane and degrading treatment of the prisoners in the country.
The other members of the Committee are Member of the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) to be nominated by the Member Secretary, Union Home Secretary or his representative not below the rank of Additional Secretary; and Home Secretaries of all States and Union Territories or their nominees, Deputy Inspector General (Correctional Administration), Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D); Joint Secretary, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment; Joint Secretary, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship; and two Directors General of Prisons and Correctional Services from States, to be identified by the Hon’ble Executive Chairperson.
The Supreme Court held that “Reformation, rehabilitation and reintegration must lie at the heart of the criminal justice system. The constitutional guarantee of the right to life under Article 21, as interpreted by this Court, encompasses within its ambit the obligation of the State to facilitate rehabilitation and enable prisoners to lead a life of dignity and normalcy. The proper utilisation of existing capacities of OCIs is therefore essential to fulfil these rehabilitative goals. Continued underutilisation, despite availability of infrastructure, reflects a systemic indifference to deploy reformative mechanisms and warrants immediate corrective measures”.
The apex court inter alia examined under-utilisation of existing OCI facilities and absence of OCIs in several states and union territories, exclusion and under-representation of women prisoners from OCIs, strict eligibility criteria and inadequate rehabilitative avenues within OCIs, lack of uniformity and the need for common minimum standards for governance and management of OCIs across states and Union territories and cost-effectiveness of OCIs vis-à-vis closed prisons and the imperative for expansion.
In its Operative Directions, the Supreme Court directed the States which do not have OCIs i.e. Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Haryana, Jharkhand, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Telangana and the UTs i.e. namely Andaman and Nicobar Islands; Chandigarh; Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu; Jammu and Kashmir; Ladakh; Lakshadweep; and Puducherry to undertake an assessment of the feasibility and necessity for establishing OCIs within their respective jurisdictions within three months. Further, almost all States as well as NCT of Delhi which have reported substantial underutilisation of existing OCI facilities and open barracks within closed prisons, each State as well as NCT of Delhi shall Develop a time-bound protocol for filling up existing vacancies in OCIs and open barracks before the Monitoring Committee constituted in each State and Union Territory within three months.
Noting “Systemic exclusion of women prisoners from having access to the OCIs is plainly contrary to both domestic norms and internationally accepted standards governing prison administration”, the Supreme Court directed “All States and Union Territories have been directed to develop a protocol for restructuring existing OCIs and/or open barracks so as to allocate adequate capacity for women prisoners within three months from the date of this judgment.”
Taking note of the strict eligibility criteria and inadequate rehabilitative avenues within OCIs, the apex court directed “All States and Union have been directed to undertake necessary amendments, modifications or revisions of the existing rules, regulations, executive instructions or administrative frameworks governing OCIs to address to give full effect to the judgment in three months.“
In the light of the lack of uniformity and the need for common minimum standards for governance and management of OCIs across States and Union Territories, the Supreme Court formed the High Powered Committee and directed that the Union of India, through the Ministry of Home Affairs, shall bear all financial and logistical requirements of the High-Powered Committee, including expenditure towards office infrastructure, staff support, travel, accommodation, and operational expenses. All logistical and administrative arrangements necessary for the functioning of the High- Powered Committee shall be completed within two weeks from the date of the judgment.
The apex direct also issued slew of directions for expansion of Open Correctional Infrastructure including undertake a comprehensive assessment of its prison infrastructure within a period of three months in each State and UT and submit the action plans to establish open prisons clearly indicating timelines, budgetary provisions and capacity targets to the monitoring committee within three months.
Finally, for compliance and monitoring of the judgment, the Supreme Court stated that “directions issued by this Court vide order dated 8th May, 2018 In Re: Inhuman Conditions in 1382 Prisons have not, thus far, yielded any meaningful or positive results.”
In order to ensure that the present direction does not meet the same the fate, the apex court directed “all the High Courts to register a suo motu writ petition, as a continuing mandamus, for the purpose of monitoring compliance with the present judgment within their respective jurisdictions, particularly with respect to the establishment, functioning and expansion of OCIs” and “every State and Union Territory shall constitute a Monitoring Committee for the Management of OCIs, to be headed by the Executive Chairman of the State Legal Services Authority or his nominee (including a former Judge of the High Court)” within four weeks of the judgment.
The State Committees shall submit status reports to the concerned High Court on regular quarterly intervals, detailing the steps taken towards compliance with the directions issued herein, the utilisation and expansion of OCIs, and any difficulties encountered in implementation of the directions issued by this Court. The first such status report shall be placed on record before the concerned High Court on or before 21st August, 2026.
Further, the High Courts, through their respective Registrar General, shall compile and forward consolidated report to the Supreme Court once every year, summarising the compliance status of States and Union Territories, progress achieved, best practices identified, and persistent gaps requiring policy or executive intervention. The first such consolidated annual report shall be placed on record before this Court on or before 31st March, 2027.
“This is a historic judgment, unprecedented in many respects and possibly one of the rarest judgment that established operational structure and infrastructure for implementation of the directions with strict deadlines to be monitored by each High Court and the Supreme Court itself. The judgment of the Supreme Court is truly a genuine step to treat the lowest ones with human dignity”. – stated Mr Suhas Chakma, the petitioner.
