Inside Taloja Prison: A Study https://www.outlookindia.com/national/inside-taloja-prison-a-study by Mahesh Raut, a TISS alumnus and rights activist working for Adivasis and marginalised communities, was arrested in June 2018 in the Bhima-Koregaon Maoist conspiracy case and has since been incarcerated in jail . The POCSO Act functions in a way that assumes girls as victims devoid of agency reinforcing patriarchal and feudal principles. This bias results in boys, even minors, being disproportionately criminalised, though the POCSO Act in theory is gender-neutral, and in perpetuating caste and social hierarchies...
Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, in his seminal work Annihilation of Caste, highlights the role of endogamy in maintaining caste hierarchies. The POCSO Act, in practice, often serves as a tool for preserving these structures by punishing youthful love that defies the status-quo. This echoes in court observations. In Atul Mishra v. State of U.P. (2022), the Supreme Court stressed the need for a “bio-social approach” to understand adolescent relationships, recognising them as “impulsive, immature, but certainly not sinful or tainted”.
Despite its protective mandate, the POCSO Act’s application can reinforce regressive societal norms, disproportionately affecting the marginalised. Addressing these issues requires thoughtful policy revision and consideration of socio-economic and age-related contexts to assure a more nuanced understanding of adolescent relationships and to prevent such tragic situations.
https://www.punekarnews.in/maharashtras-jails-operating-at-149-capacity-major-overcrowding-crisis/
Mumbai, 12th May 2025: Maharashtra’s 60 ...jails are operating at an alarming 149% of their approved capacity, with an average inmate population of 40,634 over the last three years, while the sanctioned capacity is just 27,184, as per an affidavit recently filed before the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court.</p>
The home department’s affidavit, submitted by Principal Secretary (Radhika Rastogi, was in response to a directive from the High Court concerning a criminal writ petition filed by Nanded-based undertrial Sachin Lone, represented by counsel Ratna Singh. In an effort to tackle the longstanding issue of overcrowding, the state government has devised an extensive plan, which includes the construction of nine new prisons in strategic locations across Maharashtra. The affidavit outlines the construction of new central and district prisons at Palghar, Yerwada (Pune), Thane, Gondia, Hingoli, Bhusawal, Ahilyanagar, and Baramati, adding that these developments will create 14,608 additional prison slots.
“Projects at Palghar and Baramati are already underway, while the work at Ahilyanagar has started after the contractor selection process was completed,” the affidavit states. Additionally, the state has begun the construction of 44 new barracks within existing prison facilities, which will increase capacity by 1,370. Furthermore, 67 new barracks are slated to be included in the 2025-26 budget across 12 prisons, aimed at alleviating congestion in critical facilities.
Comments: MR - What % of inmates are under-trial, pre-trial or locked up for really pointless crimes?
Speeding up the legal system and rationalizing it would eliminate the need to spend a lot on new prisons--to which there is no end, as the US experience shows. It can also create perverse incentives as prisons is a good business for various groups.
B: In my opinion, this is the single biggest violation of civil rights, and the remedy is simple and straightforward, requiring no changes in law or public protests.
We should have this on the top of the agenda for PUCL!
MR:
With new firsthand experiences, observations from his seven-and-a-half-year stay in two central prisons in Maharashtra – Yerwada in Pune and Taloja in Navi Mumbai – his activism while incarcerated, and research conducted within the confines of prison, 53-year-old Rona now views the term from a different perspective. He now approaches the subject with a deliberate focus on caste and religious dimensions. https://thewire.in/rights/rona-wilson-political-prisoner-jails-state-of-emergency
In recent years, however, he has spent considerable time in jail trying to broaden this perspective. He does acknowledge the “missing historical and social contexts” in the arguments around what a political prisoner is, and how Indian society, during pre-colonial and post-colonial times, has created a separate “criminal category” merely on the basis of one’s birth.
Raut, an Adivasi rights activist from Gadchiroli and a former Prime Minister’s Rural Development Fellow, converted prison into a place of research. Over many years in Taloja prison, Raut meticulously gathered data on individuals arrested under The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, a legislation introduced in 2012 to protect children from sexual abuse, exploitation and harassment.
Raut’s research revealed that more than 80% of those implicated under this Act belong to Dalit, Muslim and other marginalised identities, Rona notes.
“Sure, some of them might actually be involved in the criminal act, but a large section of this community is criminalised for merely disturbing the social pyramid,” he observes.
“These young men,” Rona explains, “whether intentionally or not, sought social mobility by forming romantic or sexual relationships with women from different communities. This, however, is seen as a violation of rigid social norms. This regressive society punishes such transgressions. As a result, their actions have led them to be imprisoned.”
Rona is now trying to understand if this very act of transgression, more importantly in a caste-ridden and highly communalised Indian society, “is a political act”.
17/02/2025
Human rights activist Surendra Gadling and cultural activist Sagar Gorkhe, with the help of others arrested in the Elgar Parishad case have identified at least 300 such cases where incarcerated persons lodged at the Taloja central prison have not been produced before the court for years at end.
With the systematically conducted survey over the past many months, both Gadling and Gorkhe have moved the Bombay high court seeking direction to ensure regular court visits for those in judicial custody. Since both have been facing prolonged incarceration themselves, the petition was posted across to the high court’s registry late last month.
https://thewire.in/rights/many-prisoners-at-taloja-jail-not-produced-before-court-for-years-reveals-survey-by-jailed-activists The data collected by the activists reveal disturbing trends: many prisoners had not been produced in court even once in two to three years, and some had only been produced a handful of times in five years. These figures highlight the gravity of the situation, where the basic legal right to a timely trial is being routinely violated.
The majority of these incarcerated persons, the petitions point out, come from marginalised communities such as Dalits, Adivasis, and religious minorities. Many are migrants seeking employment, living in poverty, and serving as the primary breadwinners for their families.
by Sukanya Shantha
10/02/2024
Security Guards for Undertrial Prisoners Diverted to Coldplay Concert by Navi Mumbai Police Commissioner
Date: January 18, 2025
A notice was issued by the administration of Taloja Central Jail two days ago, stating that for four days—January 18, 19, 20, and 21—all guards will be deployed at the Coldplay concert being held in Mumbai. Consequently, no undertrial prisoners will be produced in court for their regular hearings, and sick prisoners will not be taken for their routine medical check-ups or treatment during this period.
In response to this, undertrial prisoner Advocate Surendra Gadling, on behalf of all the Elgar prisoners, has issued a notice through the Taloja Jail Superintendent to the Navi Mumbai Police Commissioner. The notice clearly states that deploying security guards, who are reserved for the needs of the prisoners, to an entertainment event like the Coldplay concert is a violation of the fundamental rights and human rights of all prisoners.
The notice demands that the Navi Mumbai Police Commissioner withdraw this decision to deploy prison guards at the concert by Sunday and ensure that security personnel are made available at the jail. If the notice is not withdrawn and the guards are not made available by Sunday, all Elgar prisoners will begin a hunger strike against this decision starting Monday.
https://thewire.in/caste/home-ministry-adheres-to-supreme-court-ruling-revises-prison-manual-rules-to-end-caste-based-discrimination he Union home ministry has revised the prison manual rules to check discrimination, classification and segregation of jail inmates on the basis of caste. he amendment comes in light of the October 3, 2024, judgement of the Supreme Court regarding caste-based discrimination of prisoners. The court was hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition filed by Sukanya Shantha, journalist with The Wire, regarding the provisions in prison manuals in states such as Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Odisha, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala that legitimised caste inequalities.
From Segregation to Labour, Manu’s Caste Law Governs the Indian Prison System https://cms.thewire.in/politics/rights/india-prisons-caste-labour-segregation In several states, prison manuals still dictate that labour within the prison should be assigned on the basis of caste. everything in prison is decided by a person’s caste. He was able to tell a person’s caste merely by looking at the life they lived in prison. Ajay was a pre-trial detainee, and unlike those convicted, pre-trial detainees are exempted from working in jail. But at the undertrial prison, where convict prisoners were only a handful, detainees like Ajay were called in for free labour.
Caste-based labour, in fact, is sanctioned in the prison manuals of many states. The colonial texts of the late 19th century have barely seen any amendments, and caste-based labour remains an untouched part of these manuals. While every state has its own unique prison manual, they are mostly based on The Prisons Act, 1894. These jail manuals mention every activity in detail – from the measurement of food and space per prisoner to punishments for the “disorderly ones”.
In a significant development, a division bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud indicated it would direct the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to appoint a nodal officer to do away with caste-based discriminatory practices in India’s prisons.
https://thewire.in/caste/most-disturbing-supreme-court-caste-discrimination-prison-manuals-pil
The court was hearing the public interest litigation filed by The Wire’s Sukanya Shantha, following her investigative work on the state-sanctioned caste-based discrimination and segregation in Indian prisons.
The petition also focusses on the discriminatory provisions specifically targeting the most marginalised Denotified Tribes.
This petition is based on one of the articles from a five-part prison series ‘Barred – The Prisons Project’ produced in partnership with the Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting.
The Kashmiri man has spent several summers in India’s prisons. But this year, he told his daughter, no previous experience compared to the ordeal of living in an overcrowded prison through the summer heat. The national capital experienced an unprecedented heatwave this summer, with temperatures soaring up to 52° Celsius on some days in May.
https://thewire.in/rights/tihar-jail-kashmir-political-prisoner-heatwave-summer-brutal-torture
08/07/2024
Cash-for-beds in prison: Devendra Fadnavis orders probe 02 June,2023 https://www.mid-day.com/amp/mumbai/mumbai-news/article/cash-for-beds-in-prison-devendra-fadnavis-orders-probe-23289957 Undertrial Iqbal Shaikh fractured his hand after being allegedly thrashed by a hawaldar at Arthur Road jail in April..
However, there is no misdeed to cover up, according to Arthur Road jail superintendent Nitin Vayachal. "I was in the USA since April 20, on a month-long leave. So, I don*t know what exactly happened, but the allegation that inmates have to pay for sleeping space is nothing but a blatant lie," he told mid-day.... On the allegation that hawaldar M K Bhoir assaulted undertrial Iqbal Abbas Shaikh for speaking up against the cash-for-bed racket, "The hawaldar is innocent. At least he cannot demand money from any inmate for sleeping space. Iqbal is trying to gain media attention just to secure bail as he is imprisoned since 2021. How can he pay Rs 3 lakh when his bank account has only Rs 55?" Vayachal said.