The long fight for accessibility, dignity in Indian prisons

The story of Professor G.N. Saibaba is not just one of a travesty of justice but is also a glaring indictment of the cruelty faced by prisoners with disabilities in India. His bittersweet victory came in March 2024, when he was finally exonerated after a decade behind bars. But just months later, in October 2024, he passed away.

While recounting at a press conference the unimaginable horrors he had endured during his incarceration, he described the challenges he had with even basic tasks — using the toilet, fetching water or having a bath — due to the complete lack of wheelchair accessibility at the Nagpur Central jail premises. His “anda cell” was so cramped that he had to rely on fellow inmates to lift his wheelchair, which often led to injuries.

Prisons in India have been plagued by violence, abuse, and neglect. In 1979-80, the infamous “Bhagalpur blindings” incidents, where acid was poured into prisoners’ eyes, shocked the nation. In the early 1980s, the Mulla Committee report on prison reforms was released, recommending extensive measures to improve prison conditions and administration. Yet, in typical Indian policy fashion, no substantial improvements followed.

Stuffed prisons, appalling conditions

In 1996, a Bengaluru’s Central Jail inmate wrote to the Chief Justice of India about deplorable prison conditions. Consequently, Rama Murthy vs State of Karnataka was a landmark case where the Supreme Court of India directed the government to address key issues such as overcrowding, trial delays, torture, and neglect in prisons, in line with the Mulla Committee recommendations. Again, nearly three decades later, no substantial progress has been made, evident in the current state of prisons.

Indian prisons house around 5.73 lakh people, far exceeding their capacity of 4.36 lakh, with many operating at over 100% or even 200% capacity (National Crime Records Bureau, 2022; Maharashtra Prison Department, 2024). While the conditions of Indian prisons have always been appalling, they are exacerbated for prisoners with disabilities. Prisoners with disabilities are easy targets for abuse and violence from other prisoners and prison staff. Their special needs are simply ignored when they need special assistance with essential daily activities. While the government lacks data on the number or the condition of prisoners with disabilities, there are numerous news reports highlighting the challenges they encounter. One of the most prominent examples includes Father Stan Swamy who had Parkinson’s disease and was denied essential assistive items such as a straw and a sipper during his imprisonment, making it difficult for him to eat and drink.

Further, prisoners with disabilities also encounter rampant inaccessibility. A 2018 audit of the Tihar, Rohini, and Mandoli jails in Delhi conducted by the Nipman Foundation highlighted accessibility gaps such as the unavailability of functional wheelchairs, inaccessible prison cells, toilets, mulaqat rooms, and recreational spaces, and water coolers located on floors which lacked accessible entries.

Rights that are only on paper

All prisoners in India have the right to equality, freedom and life and personal liberty, as enshrined in the Constitution, a principle upheld by the Supreme Court in multiple judgments. Notably, in Upendra Baxi vs State of U.P. (1983), the Court affirmed that prisoners have the right to live in humane conditions with dignity.

As regards prisoners with disabilities, India has obligations under various international covenants for the protection of their rights. The Nelson Mandela Rules (2015) require prison administrations to make reasonable accommodations and adjustments for prisoners with disabilities. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities prohibits torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment for persons with disabilities. These obligations are reflected in the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 which requires the state to protect persons with disabilities from abuse, violence, exploitation, and the denial of food and fluids. Thus, the denial of a straw and sipper to Father Stan Swamy constituted a clear violation of the law.

The Ministry of Home Affairs’ Model Prison Manual (2016) also specifies dignified living conditions in prisons. In July 2024, the Ministry further issued the ‘Accessibility Guidelines for MHA Specific Built Infrastructures & Associated Services for Police Stations, Prisons & Disaster Mitigation Centres’ outlining detailed requirements to make prison facilities accessible.

While the rights of prisoners with disabilities, both against abuse and for accessibility, appear promising on paper, they are seldom enforced like many other pieces of social welfare legislation in India. Had the reality been different, Prof. Saibaba would not have suffered the way he did as a person with disability.

A lack of political will

Many in society believe that cruelty to prisoners is deserved, fuelling a troubling indifference that undermines the political will for prison reforms. However, the message to the state is clear: compliance with the law, in spirit and in substance, is non-negotiable. Regardless of political will, all prisoners, including those with disabilities, are the responsibility of the government. Given that ‘prisons’ is a State subject, State governments bear the explicit responsibility to ensure that the rights of prisoners with disabilities are upheld. It is critical that the suffering endured by Prof. Saibaba is a wake-up call for state authorities to reevaluate and reorient their attitudes toward prisoners with disabilities.

Somya Jain is Research Fellow – Disability Inclusion and Access, Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy

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