In a significant move towards prison reform, the Patna High Court has issued a directive to the Bihar government, setting a strict timeline to modernize the state's prison laws. The court has ordered the state's top administrative and police officials to complete the process of updating the Bihar prison manual to bring it in line with the central government's Model Prison Manual, preferably within a period of nine months.
Judicial Directive for Uniform Prison Laws
The order was passed by a division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Sudhir Singh and Justice Rajesh Kumar Verma. The bench was hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by advocate Abhinav Shandilya. The court disposed of the PIL after issuing its directive, and a copy of the order became publicly available on Wednesday.
The core plea of the PIL was for the High Court to issue an appropriate direction to the state's Chief Secretary and the Principal Secretaries of the Law and Home Departments. The petition urged them to formally adopt the Model Prison Manual framed by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs in 2016. Advocate Shandilya argued before the court that this 2016 manual serves as a model law intended to bring uniformity in prison regulations across all Indian states.
State's Response and Court's Deadline
During the proceedings, Advocate General P K Shahi informed the bench that the state government had already constituted a committee. This committee is tasked with studying and incorporating the necessary amendments into the existing Bihar Prison Manual. Despite this ongoing exercise, the two-judge bench deemed it necessary to set a concrete deadline to ensure timely compliance.
The court emphasized that a judicial direction for such uniformity in state prison laws has previously been given by the Supreme Court of India, making the model manual of a binding nature. After considering the submissions, the bench closed the case, mandating the completion of the upgrade process "preferably within nine months".
New Judges to Take Oath at Patna HC
In a separate development, the Patna High Court is set to welcome two new judges. Ritesh Kumar and Praveen Kumar, who have been elevated directly from the bar, will take their oaths of office on Thursday. The oath ceremony will be administered by Chief Justice Sangam Kumar Sahoo at 10:30 AM in the court's centenary hall.
This appointment will increase the current working strength of judges in the Patna High Court to 37. However, this number is still short of the court's fully sanctioned strength of 53 judges, highlighting an ongoing need for more judicial appointments to handle the caseload efficiently.
