NEW DELHI, Jan 1: In a communication to Chief Secretaries of all States and Union Territories, the Union Home Ministry has asked to address the issue of any caste-based discrimination of prisoners, ‘Model Prison Manual, 2016’ and the ‘Model Prisons and Correctional Services Act, 2023’ have been amended.
According to the new addition in the manual, the prison authorities will have to strictly ensure that there is no discrimination, classification, segregation of prisoners on the basis of their caste. It shall be strictly ensured that there is no discrimination of prisoners in allotment of any duty or work in prisons on the basis of their caste.
The Home Ministry said since several states and UTs have not enacted the Habitual Offenders Act in their jurisdictions and after examining the definition of the habitual offenders in the available Habitual Offenders Acts of various states, it has been decided to replace the existing definition of ‘Habitual Offender’ in the Model Prison Manual, 2016 and the Model Prisons and Correctional Services Act, 2023.
The Home Ministry said it added the following: “Habitual offender means a person who during any continuous period of five years, has been convicted and sentenced to imprisonment on more than two occasions on account of any one or more of the offences committed on different occasions and not constituting parts of same transaction, such sentence not having been reversed in appeal or review”.
It added that “Provided that in computing the continuous period of five years referred to above, any period spent in jail either under sentence of imprisonment or under detention shall not be taken into account".
|