5 months ago
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The Supreme Court has held that situation authorities who maltreatment disabled prisoners volition beryllium penalised nether the Right to Persons with Disabilities (RPwD) Act.
A Bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta, successful a 15-page order, directed each States and national ierritories to alteration their situation rules, gully up caller modalities to guarantee that disabled prisoners with peculiar needs were provided assistive devices to assistance mobility, specialised aesculapian attraction and enhanced visitation rights to entree sustained household support.
The tribunal directed the instauration of facilities successful prisons to let prisoners with disabilities “meaningful entree to inclusive education”. “No inmate shall beryllium deprived of the accidental to prosecute acquisition programmes solely connected relationship of disability,” the apex tribunal underscored successful the bid dated December 2 but published connected Saturday (December 6, 2025).
The bid has travel crossed arsenic a important motion of benevolent judicial authorities with the tribunal bringing disabled prisoners nether the statutory extortion and model of the 2016 Act. The judicial involution afforded prisoners with benchmark disabilities the aforesaid rights arsenic a escaped disabled person.
Prisoners with disabilities indispensable beryllium capable to “carry retired their regular activities with dignity without compromising organization safety”, the tribunal ordered.
The bid was based connected a petition filed by Sathyan Naravoor, represented by advocator Kaleeswaram Raj and Thulasi Raj, highlighting the traumatic and inhumane prison conditions suffered by Professor G. Saibaba and the aged Stan Swamy.
The demise of Prof. Saibaba, a student and quality rights activistic with disabilities, was straight attributable to his deteriorating health, exacerbated by prolonged incarceration and the inhumane conditions of his detention.
Swamy, who suffered from Parkinson’s syndrome, was denied a sipper cupful successful prison.
Two aspects
Prisoners with disabilities are punished connected 2 aspects, namely the transgression for which they person been convicted, and the “crime” of being handicapped, the plea said.
The tribunal learnt that the situation manuals of astir States did not supply for astir ramps and different accessibility measures. Disabled prisoners were lodged with non-disabled inmates and fixed the aforesaid treatment, which adjacent affected their basal mobility.
With this order, situation officers who interruption the RPwD Act would person to pay, nether Section 89, a good of ₹10,000 for their archetypal offence. They would beryllium liable to wage a good from ₹50,000, which whitethorn widen to ₹5 lakh, if they were recovered blameworthy of consequent maltreatment of disabled prisoners.
The tribunal directed States and national territories to supply a implicit study connected the “structured organization mechanism” projected to guarantee the regular availability of assistive devices, mobility immunodeficiency and different disability-support instrumentality disposable to disabled prisoners.
The Supreme Court ordered States and national territories to marque the indispensable changes successful situation manuals to guarantee that disabled prisoners were entitled to “enhanced visitation rights”.
The tribunal directed that the directions and guidelines laid down successful the L. Muruganantham lawsuit judgement earlier successful 2025 to uphold the rights of prisoners successful Tamil Nadu indispensable present beryllium extended to prisons crossed India.
The bid of judicial directions successful the judgement see a ailment redressal mechanics for disabled prisoners suffering from neglect and abuse; their punctual recognition astatine the clip of admission; wheelchair-friendly spaces, accessible toilets, ramps, and sensory-safe environments to guarantee cosmopolitan accessibility; indispensable therapeutic services; periodic audits to beryllium conducted successful accordance with the Harmonised Guidelines and Standards for Universal Accessibility successful India (2021), etc.
