Karnataka Prisons, NLSIU ink pact for prison reforms, legal aid

Karnataka's Prisons Department has partnered with NLSIU, Bengaluru, via an MoU to enhance prison reforms. The university will provide legal assistance to inmates, focusing on the elderly and sick, and help draft new prison policies.

The Department of Prisons and Correctional Services, Karnataka, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the National Law School of India University (NLSIU), Bengaluru, to strengthen prison reforms and provide legal assistance to inmates. The MoU was signed on September 18 at the Prisons Headquarters in Bengaluru.

Partnership for Prison Reforms

Under the agreement, NLSIU's Criminal Justice Clinic, which works through its lawyers, students and researchers, will be responsible for carrying out several key activities. The clinic will identify elderly prisoners and prisoners suffering from serious ailments and assist in facilitating their release. It will also conduct legal aid camps in prisons and provide pro bono legal representation to marginalised accused persons in custody.

The clinic will assist the Prisons Department in drafting a policy for the premature release of elderly and terminally ill prisoners, pursuant to the Supreme Court's judgement in NALSA vs. Union of India in W.P. No. 165/2025. It will also assist the department in research and drafting of other laws and policies related to prisons in Karnataka.

As part of the MoU, NLSIU will further support capacity building of para-social workers, convict lawyers and lawyers working in prisons. It will also assist in other activities related to prison reforms and provide training and supervision to prison staff and students.

The MoU was signed in the presence of Alok Kumar, IPS, Director General of Police, Prisons and Correctional Services, Karnataka State, Advocate Ragini Ahuja, Co-Director, Criminal Justice Clinic, NLSIU, Bengaluru, and PV Anand Reddy, AIG of Prisons, Prison Headquarters, Bengaluru.

Urgent Need for Comprehensive Reforms

Earlier, Karnataka Home Minister Priyank Kharge said there is an urgent need for comprehensive prison reforms, citing issues including overcrowding, inmate monitoring, mental health assessment and infrastructure gaps in correctional facilities.

Addressing a press conference, Kharge said some prisoners continue to display violent behaviour due to their past habits and circumstances, and that regular counselling is being provided to help control such behaviour. He said the exact details of a recent incident are yet to be received, but added that the concerns highlighted in the report submitted by the Hithendra Committee cover several aspects of prison administration.

Hithendra Committee Report Insights

"In that report, all these issues have been highlighted—whether it is the overcrowding of prisons, monitoring, the grading of prisoners (assessing their mental condition and deciding where they should be placed), or digital infrastructure, such as CCTV cameras. Also mentioned is the checking process in prisons—how vegetables, other items, and groceries enter, or how frisking should be done when relatives visit," Kharge said.

He added that the report also includes suggestions related to allowing prisoners to communicate with their families, improving physical infrastructure, constructing compound walls, increasing wall heights and maintaining prison facilities. (ANI)

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