SC issues notice to Centre on plea seeking adequate facilities for disabled prisoners

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has sought a response from the Centre on a plea seeking adequate facilities for disabled prisoners in jails, and implementation of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, in prisons across the country. A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta issued notice to the Union of India and others on a plea filed by activist Sathyan Naravoor. "Issue notice, returnable within four weeks," it said.

Citing instances of professor G N Saibaba and activist Stan Swamy to highlight the "severe neglect" of disabled prisoners, the plea said necessary provisions should be incorporated in the existing Prisons Act to address the special needs of disabled inmates. Former Delhi University professor Saibaba died on October 12 last year at a state-run hospital in Hyderabad due to health-related complications, seven months after he was acquitted in a case of alleged links with Maoists after 10 years in prison. Swamy, arrested in the Bhima-Koregaon case, died at Mumbai's Holy Family Hospital in 2021. The petition contended that even after more than eight years since the enactment of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, most state prison manuals do not include the mandatory provisions for ramps and other essential accessibility measures. "This ongoing failure severely impacts the basic mobility of disabled prisoners within prison premises, directly violating the statutory requirements of the Act," the plea contended. Pointing to the lack of infrastructural facilities such as ramps and accessible toilets, the petition claimed prisoners with disabilities often depend on others for assistance with their daily tasks.