Tihar Jail Holds Inmates Beyond Capacity; Delhi High Court Directs Matter to Delhi Government

Dubela, Ankesh Roy: Tihar Jail in Delhi currently holds about 20,500 prisoners, even though it is meant to accommodate only around 10,500. This information was shared by Arvind Kumar, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of Tihar Jail, in an updated status report. His statement came in response to a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) that raised concerns about overcrowding in the jail. The matter was brought before the Delhi High Court, but the bench led by Chief Justice DK Upadhyay refused to hear the petition. Instead, the court advised the petitioner to take the issue to the appropriate authority.

During the hearing, the Delhi High Court stated that the Supreme Court is already addressing the issue of overcrowding in jails. The court also noted that the petitioner had previously written to the Central Government about the problem. However, the court clarified that the Central Government is not responsible for managing jails like Tihar in Delhi. As a result, the High Court instructed the petitioner to take the matter to the Delhi Government instead. The petition was filed by Anand Tiwari, who argued that keeping too many prisoners in jail violates their basic rights under Article 21 of the Constitution, which guarantees the right to live with dignity and peace.

The primary cause of overcrowding in Tihar Jail is the large number of undertrial prisoners. According to a response to an RTI query from the office of the Director General of Tihar Jail, about 90.66% of the total prisoners are undertrials, exacerbating the overcrowding issue. The Delhi High Court had also refused to hear a similar case in December 2022. At that time, an NGO called Nyay Foundation had filed the petition, arguing that too many people were being arrested without proper cause, which was contributing to the growing jail population. They demanded an end to unnecessary and random arrests.