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Orders Inspector General of Correctional Services to Compensate Heirs of Deceased Inmates
In a significant move to address the plight of families who lost loved ones in custody, the has directed the , to immediately disburse compensation to the of inmates who died in correctional homes. The of Justice Debangsu Basak and Justice Aryak Dutt issued the directive on , while hearing a batch of concerning conditions in state prisons.
A Mechanism for Justice
The court’s order builds on its earlier direction of , which set up a modality for identifying the heirs of deceased inmates. At that time, the State had expressed its inability to disburse compensation due to a lack of material particulars about the legal representatives of many deceased prisoners. To bridge this gap, the court requested the Member Secretary of the to conduct a comprehensive identification exercise through all .
The 2019 Scheme Takes Center Stage
During the proceedings, the SLSA informed the court about the existence of the . Under of this scheme, the fund created for compensation is operated by the Inspector General of Correctional Services. The court therefore directed:
"the Inspector of General of Correctional Services will proceed to disburse compensation in terms of such scheme to the of the deceased inmates of the correctional homes."
The court further clarified that the Inspector General must act on the data provided by the SLSA. If the data is deemed insufficient for in any particular case, a must be passed for each deceased inmate and communicated to the SLSA. Where the data is sufficient, must be made expeditiously.
Expanding the Identification Drive
The SLSA’s report, taken on record on , covered deaths only from , to , and revealed that several heirs remained unidentified. The court has now directed the SLSA to extend the identification exercise to all inmates who died from , onwards and to continue updating the data periodically. The State has been ordered to provide the SLSA with the complete list of deaths in custody from 2022 to date and to keep updating it.
Monitoring Open Prisons and Directives
The court also took note of the ’s judgment in (), which mandated the constitution of in every state and union territory. The High Court administration informed the bench that such a committee has already been constituted in West Bengal. The court directed that status reports be submitted quarterly, with the first consolidated annual report to the due by .
Rejecting , Allowing Further Input
The learned sought of three for separate hearing, arguing they dealt with inhuman conditions in correctional homes. The bench declined the request, observing that all the petitions sought and that could lead to duplication of efforts and conflicting decisions. However, the was given liberty to place additional material on record regarding the alleged continuation of inhuman conditions.
The matter has been listed for further hearing after two weeks, with the court expected to monitor compliance with its directions closely.
