PRISONER'S RIGHTS - REMEMBER, THEY ARE HUMANS TOO!

Quite a few years back. The plight of prisoners was even more brutal and disgusting since the struggle with the state that the idea of a new dawn of recognizing human rights for prisoners was espoused. A criminal should not be treated inhumanely and should have the complete right to live with dignity. To guarantee the same, the authors of the fundamental law via Article 21 have enshrined the prohibition of any cruel or unacceptable behaviour toward any person being Indian or foreign. In any infringement of the right above, Article 14 comes into the picture, which provides for equality of rights and equal protection of the laws, to which prisoners are of no exceptions. Moreover, the judiciary has played a pivotal role in pronouncing prisoners' basic human rights within the past few years. One such cornerstone was the legal aid for them, which is no longer a matter of empathy and sympathy but now an obligatory constitutional right. This right is an ingredient of fair procedure1. Another in the row is the right to trial speedily, exclusively for those looking towards justice for decades behind bars. This paper is an endeavour to restrict the role of due process of law with that of the prisoner's rights against cruelties of inhumane treatment, torture, solitary confinement and uncalled-for handcuffing in many cases. Life is not just an animal existence, and people in jail should not be ashamed of the same. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]