The Bombay High Court on Monday expressed significant concerns regarding the conditions of terminally ill prisoners languishing in jails across Maharashtra. During a session presided over by Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Prithviraj Chavan, the court urged the state government to rigorously apply existing guidelines concerning the treatment and rights of these inmates, specifically referring to an advisory issued by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs back in August 2010.
This call to action followed a personal visit by the justices to the Yerwada Central Prison in Pune, where they inspected the facilities and met with inmates, including a focus on the circumstances faced by female prisoners. The advisory in question recommends that prisoners suffering from terminal illnesses should be considered for release on medical bail, parole, or furlough, or alternatively placed under house arrest or in the care of family members. It also mentions the option of providing special medical care within prison facilities when necessary.
The High Court’s intervention came during the hearing of a petition filed by Arun Bhelke, whose wife, Kanchan Nanaware, an undertrial arrested in 2014 under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), died in January 2021. Despite her diagnosis of a terminal illness in 2020, Nanaware failed to secure medical bail. She was recommended a ‘heart and lung’ transplant by a medical board, but succumbed before any judicial relief could be granted.
Bhelke’s plea highlights the urgent need for the strict implementation of the 2010 advisory and the Maharashtra Prisons (Review of Sentences) Rules to prevent future neglect of terminally ill prisoners. Senior advocate Gayatri Singh, representing Bhelke, emphasized that prison superintendents are empowered to release terminally ill prisoners to their families under specific conditions, allowing them to spend their final days in a more humane environment.
