Six rules for death row prisoners

With new Supreme Court directions on handling prisoners on death row, HT spoke to prison officers inside India’s most populated Tihar jail in the national Capital.

The Supreme Court (SC) has, in the last month, issued several important directions in handling prisoners on death row. On Tuesday, the SC initiated proceedings suo motu for revamping the manner in which death sentences are handed down by the courts in the country. Earlier this month, On March 3, a bench in the Supreme Court made a psychological evaluation of the condemned prisoner mandatory, along with seeking a report on the inmate’s conduct at the time of examining whether the gallows remain the only fitting punishment.

These days, death row prisoners are kept in cells, which have more than one CCTV camera, and are monitored from a control room.  (File Photo)

In the backdrop of the court’s focus on such prisoners, HT spoke to prison officers inside the country’s most populated Tihar jail in the national Capital to find out how prisoners on death row are handled behind bars. Some of the rules and procedures adopted for such prisoners are mentioned in the prison rules, while others are not. However, all of them are followed strictly within the prison complex for death row prisoners.

Here are six interesting rules or procedures followed for prisoners on death row:

1. A cell with the maximum sunlight

This is part of the prison rules along with the guidelines issued by the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BRPD). Prisoners on death row are allotted the brightest cell, with the maximum amount of sunlight entering their cell. This is done to ensure that their activities inside the cell are seen round-the-clock by the guards and other prisoners. “From sunlight to sunset, a good light shall be kept in front of the grated door of every cell, in which the condemned prisoner is confined so that he/may at all times be under close supervision,” reads a portion of the prison manual for death-row prisoners. They are also called condemned prisoners. These days, death row prisoners are kept in cells, which have more than one CCTV camera, and are monitored from a control room.

2. No belts or cotton strings

This is an unwritten rule followed inside the prison. The prison forbids the use of strings to tie clothes inside the prison. This rule is often circumvented because prisoners somehow manage to get access to string and use it to hang their clothes. However, this rule is strictly followed for “condemned prisoners”. They have to hang their clothes on the wall for drying after a wash.

Similarly, while a leather belt is a banned item inside prison, prisoners use cotton strings to tie their pants or pyjamas. But cotton strings are banned for prisoners on death row. Prison officers fear that the strings could be used to take one’s life inside prison. After a prisoner is sentenced to death, as part of clothing, he is given “two sets of pants or pyjamas without any cord.”

3. On every entry and exit, cells are searched

This is a mandatory rule, but not often followed, mentioned in the prison manual. Fearing that death row prisoners may attempt suicide, it is mandatory for jail officers to search the cell of death-row prisoners, when releasing them in the morning or sending them back to their cells in the evening. But prison officers, who spoke to HT on the condition of anonymity, said that it is not practical to search the cell every time the prisoner steps out.

Also, while allotting the cell to death row prisoners, it is mandatory for jail officers to check for items such as nails in the cell, which could be used by the prisoner to harm themselves. Another rule that jail officers said is difficult to implement is one that involves changing the cell of the prisoner every day. The rules say that if there is more than one cell in a particular space (ward or barrack) within the prison, the prisoner must be shifted from one cell to the other every single day.

Further, for security reasons, even if the death-row prisoner is unwell, he/she can be removed from the cell and admitted to the prison hospital only on the orders of a deputy inspector general rank officer. This rule does not apply to other prisoners.

4. A priest visit once a week

This is a special facility that only death row prisoners are entitled to. Depending on their faith, they have the option of meeting a priest from outside once every week. The expenses incurred in getting a priest or head of faith followed by the prisoner will have to be borne by the government. In case the prisoner desires to meet the priest more than once a week, permission is granted by the superintendent of the jail. Apart from this, such prisoners are also entitled to get “religious books, religious photographs, rosary and other religious emblems subject to security.” Death row prisoners are allowed to request such religious books and photographs, which have to be made available to him/her. For other prisoners, it is not mandatory for prison officers to agree to their request.

5. A daily psychological report

Many prisoners report mental health issues after they are sentenced to death. The SC has, in the past, noted that prisoners develop health issues when there is a delay in dealing with the appeal of death row prisoners. In the case of Delhi bomb blast convict Devinder Singh Bhullar, who was sentenced to death, he was diagnosed with mental health issues during his years as a death row convict.

It is mandatory for the deputy superintendent of the prison to prepare a psychological observation report of the prisoner, which is then checked by the inspector general (IG) of the prison. Depending on the findings of the report, the IG or the head of the prison must alert the prison department. This report could later be used by the government for research.

6. On suicide watch

To ensure that prisoners sentenced to death do not attempt to take their own lives, there is increased surveillance of such prisoners. The rules say that for every four death-row prisoners, there should be one guard. The guard is not authorised to carry a firearm or sharp object, which could be used by the prisoners. The guards are also not allowed to enter the cell and can do so only if he/she spots the prisoner attempting to end their life. It is common for such prisoners to attempt suicide. For example, a day before the execution of the 2012 Delhi gang-rape convicts, one of them had managed to smuggle a blade inside the cell. It was spotted by a prisoner, who alerted the jail guard. The rules also say that the guard must be changed every two hours. Prison officers say this, too, is impractical given the scarcity of the workforce in the prison.