The Supreme Court of India has issued a notice to the Centre, seeking a response regarding the provision of adequate facilities for disabled prisoners across the country. The notice was in response to a plea emphasizing the need for the implementation of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, in prison facilities nationwide. Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta have asked for a reply within four weeks.
The plea, filed by activist Sathyan Naravoor, points to the severe neglect and inadequate conditions faced by disabled inmates, highlighting the cases of professor G N Saibaba and activist Stan Swamy as primary examples. Saibaba, a former Delhi University professor who suffered from severe health complications, died last year after spending 10 years in prison on charges of alleged links with Maoists. Stan Swamy, involved in the Bhima-Koregaon case, passed away in 2021 in a Mumbai hospital. Both cases have been pivotal in bringing attention to the treatment of disabled individuals in custody.*
The petition argues that despite the passage of over eight years since the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act was enacted, many state prison manuals still lack mandatory provisions such as ramps, accessible toilets, and other necessary accessibility measures. This oversight, according to the plea, severely restricts the mobility of disabled prisoners within the prison premises, resulting in a direct violation of the statutory requirements of the Act.
Further, the petition stresses that the absence of infrastructural facilities like ramps and accessible toilets forces prisoners with disabilities to rely on others for assistance with daily tasks, compounding their challenges and undermining their dignity.
