Cabinet nod to amend prison rules to nix caste discrimination

Panaji: The state cabinet on Wednesday granted approval to amend the Goa prison rules, 2021, to prohibit caste-based discrimination in prisons and correctional institutions. “It shall be strictly ensured that there is no discrimination, classification, or segregation of prisoners on the basis of their caste, and it shall be strictly ensured that there is no discrimination of prisoners in the allotment of any duty or work in prisons on the basis of their caste,” the proposed amendments state.

The proposed amendment also mentions that the provisions of the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013, shall have a binding effect even in prisons and correctional institutions. “Manual scavenging or hazardous cleaning of a sewer or a septic tank inside a prison shall not be permitted,” it states.

Chief minister Pramod Sawant said that the cabinet approved the draft notification to amend the Goa prison rules, 2021, in terms of a Supreme Court judgment.

The Supreme Court, in its judgment, passed certain directions to the concerned stakeholders considering the caste-based discrimination of prisoners in the prisons of some states and Union territories (UTs).

The court directed all states and UTs to revise their prison manuals and rules in accordance with this judgment within a period of three months.

Union govt was directed to make necessary changes, as highlighted in the judgment, to address caste-based discrimination in the model prison manual, 2016, and the Model Prisons and Correctional Services Act, 2023, within a period of three months.

References to “habitual offenders” in the prison manuals or model prison manual shall be in accordance with the definition given in the habitual offender legislation enacted by the respective state legislatures, subject to constitutional challenge against such legislation in the future.

All other references or definitions of “habitual offenders” in the impugned prison manuals or rules are declared unconstitutional. In case there is no habitual offender legislation in the state, Union and state govts are directed to make necessary changes in the manuals or rules in line with this judgment, within a period of three months, in compliance with the aforesaid directions of the court.