The Critical Case Of Prison Overcrowding In India: Causes And Effects

Anushka Sharma, Institute of Law Nirma University Ahmedabad

INTRODUCTION

Prison overcrowding is a severe problem that has been addressed by national and international actors for decades and has plagued modern prisons since the beginning of the nineteenth century.1 The nature of prison overcrowding is complicated to understand because of the complexities involved; on the one hand, quick drops in the jail population surprise criminal justice administrators. While on the other hand, Policies aimed at reducing prison overcrowding face difficulties in introducing and explaining changes in sentencing practises or parole decision-making to a public that demands increasingly more security and frequently equate security with long prison sentences, incapacitation, and restrictive parole. Prison overcrowding can occur as a consequence of a slow and steady long-term increase in the number of prisoners, resulting in “chronic overcrowding,” or as a result of a rapid upward movement, such as in the aftermath of collective violence or detaining perpetrators of severe crimes, as in Rwanda.

Criminal justice systems may be affected by prison overcrowding for short periods and manage to deal with it quickly; in some countries, overcrowding appears as an ebb-and-flow phenomenon;3 But in India, overcrowding appears to be a long-term problem with no effective, long-term solutions. Thus, overcrowding prevention strategies must be thoroughly evaluated, and the solution must be long-term.4 The search for a long-term influence leads to observational research and the availability of accurate data on many areas of criminal justice and correctional facilities; thus, research communities play an essential role in finding an appropriate solution to the current problem.