- The Supreme Court of India on September 25, 2108 formed a three member Committee on Prison Reforms chaired by former apex court judge, Justice Amitava Roy, to look into the aspect of jail reforms across the country and suggest measures to deal with them, from overcrowding to lack of legal advice to convicts to issues of remission and parole.
- A Bench of Justices Madan B. Lokur, S. Abdul Nazeer and Deepak Gupta said the panel will look into the issues including over-crowding in prisons.The Apex court on August 27 had reserved its order on the issue of constituting a committee to deal with issues pertaining to jails and suggest reforms for prisons across the country. The bench was hearing a matter relating to inhuman conditions in 1,382 prisons across India.
- The apex court appointed the Inspector General of Police, Bureau of Police Research and Development, and the Director General (Prisons) Tihar Jail as the panel’s members.
- The judgment came on a letter from former Chief Justice of India R.C. Lahoti highlighting the overcrowding in prisons, unnatural deaths of prisoners, gross inadequacy of staff and the lack of trained staff.
- Justice Lokur however said the Amitava Roy Committee need not confine itself to these four issues but can comprehensively examine and respond to the dire necessity of reforms in prisons.
- The panel would also probe the reasons for violence in prisons and correctional homes and recommend preventive measures.
