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2016 (2) TMI 1276 - SUPREME COURTPrison reforms - rights of prisoners - over-crowding in prisons and improving the living conditions of prisoners - this Court pointed out the double handicap that prisoners face; the first being that most prisoners belong to the weaker sections of society and the second being that since they are confined in a walled-off world their voices are inaudible - HELD THAT:- It is clear that in spite of several orders passed by this Court from time to time in various petitions, for one reason or another, the issue of overcrowding in jails continues to persist and apart from anything else, appears to have persuaded Justice R.C. Lahoti to address a letter of the Chief Justice of India on this specific issue of overcrowding in prisons. We cannot forget that the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which India is a signatory, provides in Article 10 that: "All persons deprived of their liberty shall be treated with humanity and with respect for the inherent dignity of the human person." Similarly, Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) provides: "No one shall be subjected to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment." The sum and substance of the discussion is that prisoners, like all human beings, deserve to be treated with dignity. To give effect to this, some positive directions need to be issued by this Court - necessary directions were passed.
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