THE LEGAL FRAMEWORK SURROUNDING SOLITARY CONFINEMENT IN INDIA
AUTHOR – KANAK S. UPADHYAY, STUDENT AT M.K.E.S. COLLEGE OF LAW
BEST CITATION – KANAK S. UPADHYAY, THE LEGAL FRAMEWORK SURROUNDING SOLITARY CONFINEMENT IN INDIA, INDIAN JOURNAL OF LEGAL REVIEW (IJLR), 5 (2) OF 2025, PG. 77-82, APIS – 3920 – 0001 & ISSN – 2583-2344.
This article is published in the collaborated special issue of M.K.E.S. College of Law and the Institute of Legal Education (ILE), titled “Current Trends in Indian Legal Frameworks: A Special Edition” (ISBN: 978-81-968842-8-4).
ABSTRACT
Solitary Confinement means keeping a person thoroughly isolated from any kind of contact from outside world. Solitary Confinement as a practice owes its origin to the United States. In 1787, Quaker Dr. Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin and several Quaker leaders founded the Philadelphia Society for alleviating the miseries of public prisons. They believed that total isolation and silence would lead to penitence and the offender may not repeat the crime again. Sections 73 And 74 of the IPC (Section 11 And 12 of BNS) deals with the provisions for Solitary Confinement. Under Section 73[1] (Section 11 of BNS)[2], Solitary Confinement can be awarded for offences under IPC (Now BNS). The Prisons Act, 1894 is India’s first prison regulation legislation. The legislation focuses mainly on the rehabilitation of inmates in relation to the rights of inmates. Section 29 and 30 of The Prisons Act, 1894 deals with Solitary Confinement. The Solitary Confinement has many consequences. A large body of research shows that Solitary Confinement causes adverse psychological , physical, and neurological effects and increases the risk of serious harm to individuals who experience it, often lasting well beyond one’s time in Confinement.
Keywords: Solitary confinement, origin of Solitary confinement, law related to Solitary confinement, the Prisoners Act, 1984, effect of Solitary confinement
[1] Section 73 of Indian Penal Code,1860.
[2] Section 11 of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita,2023.