Emphasizing that fundamental rights should not remain on paper and that it’s the court’s duty to ensure that they become living law, in practicality, assisting, helping, and guiding the citizens, the Delhi High Court observed that it was “time the authorities of the prisons, which are correctional homes, act as guardians of the prisoners for their health and safety and not merely consider themselves as guards of the inmates”.
Justice Swarna Kanta Sharma was hearing a case involving the payment of compensation and its quantum to a convicted inmate, Ved Yadav of Tihar Jail, who had three fingers on his right hand amputated while working in the prison’s factory.
The petitioner sought direction to get a functional prosthesis for the amputated fingers on his right hand at state expense from any private hospital that offers this service, as well as compensation for the loss he suffered.
Yadav was taken to AIIMS for functional prosthesis, but hospital officials stated that they only had cosmetic gloves. Following that, he inquired with the jail superintendent, but was informed that his application for compensation and provision of the functional prosthesis at the expense of the State had been returned without explanation.
‘INFRINGEMENT OF FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT’
“The Tihar Jail Factories are working and engaged in activities producing envelope making/paper unit, tailoring, carpentry, etc. In such circumstances, when there exists no employee or employer relationship between prisoners and the jail authorities; for work-related injuries they should be provided protection and remedies as the Constitution vision does not permit that any citizen should be rendered remediless in case of commission of an offence or infringement of a fundamental right or availing compensation for injuries even as a prisoner,” the court said.
The court opined that inmates who have suffered disability due to a work-related injury in prison have a fundamental right to justice and compensation under the law. It said, “The injury and disability suffered by the applicant, in this case, cannot be assessed to be lesser in pain and suffering compared to a free citizen. Pain from an injury cannot be different for a convict and a free citizen.”
The single-judge bench stated that the prisoners who are separated from society and their families due to the Court‘s sentence are often unseen by the general public and their families. It noted that there is no mention in either the Delhi Prisons Act, 2000 or the Delhi Prison Rules, 2018 of what happens to the convict’s lost time wages if he was unable to work following his accident due to amputation, as in the present case where the petitioner lost three fingers on his right hand for an extended period. “There is no mention regarding the pain and suffering due to the accident in question and about future loss of prospects a convict suffers once he is released from prison”, the court added.
THE GUIDELINES
Observing, that the criminal justice system, which includes convicting a person and sending him to jail to serve his sentence, must remain “responsive and sensitive”, while such prisoners as convicts serve their sentences, ‘ensuring that their right to dignity and life is not violated’, Justice Sharma issued the following guidelines in case a convict suffers work-related amputation or life-threatening injury:
- The Superintendent Jail will be duty-bound to immediately inform about the same to the concerned Jail Inspecting Judge within 24 hours of the incident.
- A three-member committee consisting of (i) Director General (Prisons), Delhi, (ii) Medical Superintendent of a government hospital (including, but not limited to, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Safdarjung Hospital, Ram Manohar Hospital, Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital, Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital, and Dr. Baba Saheb Ambedkar Hospital), and (iii) Secretary, DSLSA of the concerned district wherefrom the convict has been sentenced, will be constituted, who will assess and quantify the compensation to be paid to the victim of a such work-related injury, after perusing the opinion of a board of doctors which will be constituted at their request by the treating hospital.
- The government hospital wherefrom the victim will be medically examined/treated for the injury or the disability, if any, the same will be put up before the above-mentioned committee for assessment of compensation.
- For assessing the injury/disability, the contributory negligence, if any, of the victim in question will be kept in mind.
- The essential interim compensation will be provided to such victims in case of amputation or life-threatening injury.
The court further stated that the above arrangements will remain in place until necessary guidelines are formulated, rules are made or amended in this regard, or any amendment is introduced in the Prison Act, 1894 by the wisdom of the Parliament of India, or in the Delhi Prisons Act, 2000 to deal with such a situation.
Additionally, the court stated that since the present petitioner has already received interim compensation of Rs. 50, 000 from the jail authorities, the petitioner’s case regarding enhanced compensation and provision of functional prosthesis will be decided in accordance with the above guidelines within three months.
“While this judgment does not intend to create new rights of prisoners, it expresses and reiterates the recognition of the right to equality, right to life and human dignity of a prisoner who has been convicted,” the court said.
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