Mobile phones for open jail inmates: Inside Tihar jail's push for prisoner rehab

The SOP is likely to lay down a clearly defined time limit for phone usage, restricting the number of hours an inmate can use the device.

Inmates of Tihar’s open jail will soon be able to use mobile phones, albeit, with some limitations, with the jail authorities in the process of coming up with a standard operating procedure (or SOP) for this, officials familiar with the matter said.

File photo of Tihar jail (Hindustan Times)

The move is unprecedented, comes in the wake of am October directive of the Delhi High Court to the authorities to come up with a plan for mobile access for open jail inmates, and is aimed to balance the need for security, with the larger objective of rehabilitating prisoners who are considered safe enough to be housed in the open jail.

Tihar’s open jail is set to complete 10 years in 2026. An open jail is a correctional facility where inmates with good conduct are allowed to live with minimal supervision and work outside the prison during the day, promoting reintegration into society. The building where inmates of the open jail reside is behind the office of the Director General but is currently under renovation.

According to officials cited above, who asked not to be named, the move is intended to help inmates stay connected with family members and employers while ensuring strict safeguards against misuse. “The SOP is in the final stages and is being prepared by the legal cell of Tihar Prisons,” one of them added.

A second official said that as per the draft SOP, inmates may be permitted to use only mobile numbers that are pre-registered with and verified by the prison administration. “They may be able to use only the numbers which will be taken on record by the prison department. This measure is aimed at preventing unauthorised communication and potential criminal misuse.”

In addition, the SOP is likely to lay down a clearly defined time limit for phone usage, restricting the number of hours an inmate can use the device . “The phones will be issued for a specified duration. Mostly while leaving for work till they come back. They would be asked to return the device to prison authorities once they come back from their daily work outside the jail premises,” the second official said.

“While forming the SOP and eventually allowing inmates of the open jail to be able to use a mobile phone, we also need to ensure that it’s not misused by other inmates.”

While the open jail can house about 25-30 inmates, it currently has three inmates and they have no access to a personal mobile phone. In the past, the open jail has housed inmates such as Siddharth Vashishta, better known by his alias Manu Sharma , the Jessical Lal murder convict (he was released after completing his term in 2020) and former Congress youth president Sushil Sharma, who was convicted for the murder of his wife Naina Sahni (he was released in 2018 after completing his sentence).

DG (Prisons) SBK Singh did not comment on the matter.

Sunil Gupta, former legal advisor and Tihar spokesperson, said, “Inmates in open jail go out of the Tihar premises unescorted, therefore, they already have the freedom to use a phone if they need to. If Tihar administration is forming an SOP to allow phones to inmates in the open jail, it’s a harmless step.”