High-risk prisoners may be transferred to other states from Delhi

The existing Transfer of Prisoners Act, 1950, permits only convicted prisoners to be transferred between states. Undertrial prisoners remain governed by the Prisons Act, 1900, which restricts their transfer to facilities within the same state only.

Officials said this restriction has created serious security concerns in Delhi’s prisons. In May 2026, the Capital’s jails housed 188 members belonging to 26 identified gangs, with 107 having been arrested. These hardened undertrials continue engaging in violent activities from within prisons, including targeted killings, extortion, gang rivalry, threats and organised criminal conspiracies, officials said.

The Punjab government pioneered the solution by enacting the Transfer of Prisoners (Punjab Amendment) Act, 2025, which received presidential assent on April 21, 2025. The amended law provides for transferring undertrial prisoners between states “to maintain security and law and order or in the public interest.”

Under Delhi’s proposed implementation, undertrial gangsters and high-risk criminals can be transferred from one state to another “with the mutual consent of the states concerned or the approval of the Ministry of Home Affairs.” Judicial proceedings following transfers will comply with the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023.

Officials said some hardened undertrial criminals exploit welfare and reformative facilities in Delhi’s prisons to influence trial processes and expand criminal activities. “Even while in jail, they can use local networks and contacts with other gangs to expand their alliances. There have also been instances of gang wars and retaliatory actions among such prisoners,” officials pointed out.