Grievance redressal, inclusive education, visitation provisions: Supreme Court bats for rights of disabled inmates

2) Appropriate facilities to be created to ensure that disabled prisoners have meaningful access to inclusive education within the prison system. The court said that no inmate shall be deprived of the opportunity to pursue educational programmes solely on account of disability.

3) Section 89 of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 (punishment for contravention of the act) shall be made applicable to prisons across the country.

4) All prison authorities to take adequate steps to disseminate awareness of the obligations flowing from the said provision to all officers, staff, legal-aid personnel, and other stakeholders.

5) Prisoners with benchmark disabilities entitled to enhanced visitation provisions, to ensure sustained family support, emotional well-being, and continuous monitoring of their special needs.

6) The court has directed the departmental head of each state and union territory to frame specific modalities for such visitation.

Apart from these directions the court has also ordered that the directions passed by the court in L. Muruganantham v. state of Tamil Nadu and others will be extended to all the states and the union territories. In this case the court had framed comprehensive guidelines for prisons in Tamil Nadu.

Provisions for support equipment

The counsel for the petitioner had also sought directions for the provision of appropriate assistive devices, mobility aids, and other support equipment to prisoners with disabilities.

The court however considering the issue of prison security and the practical modalities of implementation, directed all states and union territories to indicate in its compliance report the structured institutional mechanism proposed to ensure the regular availability, maintenance, and secure provision of assistive devices, mobility aids, and other disability-support equipment for prisoners with disabilities.

“The affidavit shall clearly outline the procedures, infrastructure, procurement systems, supervision protocols, and security measures by which such assistive aids will be made accessible to inmates, enabling them to carry out their daily activities with dignity without compromising institutional safety,” the court added.

The court has directed all the states and union territories to present a compliance report within four months.

“All States and Union Territories are hereby directed to place on record a comprehensive compliance report before this Court within four months from today, indicating the measures undertaken for effectuating the directions issued in L. Muruganantham (supra) as well as those mandated herein,” the court ordered.

The court has further directed that the report should clearly set out the steps adopted, the progress achieved, and the modalities evolved for ensuring ‘faithful implementation’ of the directions in the prisons located within their jurisdictions.