Women prisoners with children
196 babies born, Calcutta HC takes serious view of women in Bengal jails getting pregnant
The Calcutta High Court on Thursday took a serious view of a submission made by an amicus curiae (an impartial adviser to a court of law in a particular case - न्यायमित्र; modern Latin, literally ‘friend’, (in full) ‘friend of the court’) that women prisoners in West Bengal are getting pregnant while in custody.
The amicus curiae informed the court that 196 babies have been born in different jails in the State.
Lawyer Tapas Kumar Bhanja, who was appointed amicus curiae by the court in a 2018 suo motu motion on overcrowding in correctional homes in the State, had submitted the note containing these is sues and suggestions before the Division Bench of Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam and Justice Supratim
The learned amicus Curiae has suggested the prohibition of entry of male employees of correctional homes into the enclosures of women prisoners," the court recorded.
The Division Bench said the matter would be placed before a Bench hearing criminal cases next Monday.
"in order to have an effective adjudication of all these matters, we deem it appropriate that the matter should be placed before the honourable Division Bench having a criminal roster determination" the Bench said.
During the mention, the amicus Curiae also submitted he had visited one correctional home where he found one woman pregnant.
He added that 15 children born in prison were also there in the correctional home.
The judges added that the amicus curiae placed his note on January 25, 2024, and submitted a copy in the office of the Advocate-General.
The Prison Statistics of India report for 2022, compiled by the National Crime Records Bureau, pointed out that there were 1,537 women prisoners with 1,764 children as on December 31, 2022.
"Uttar Pradesh has reported the highest number of women with children {325 women with 365 children} followed by Bihar {300 and 331} and West Bengal {160 and 213} as on December 31, 2022," the report stated.
After the Supreme Court took cognizance of news reports about the 196 babies in West Bengal jails, revealed during a hearing in the Calcutta High Court, a bench of justices Sanjay Kumar and Ahsanuddin Amanullah decided to look into the issue on 10 February and sought a report from senior advocate Gaurav Agrawal, already assisting it with improving jail infrastructure.
The suggestions for facilities for the children living in the jails include involving a woman member of the child welfare committee in each district to examine the availability of creches and schooling in prisons.
The facilities should comply with an earlier Supreme Court judgment in the 2006 RD Upadhyay case. The 2006 judgment came with a slew of directions for the care and welfare of children born to women inmates. Each state has its own prison rules on up to what age a child can live with the mother, either an undertrial or a convict.
