The Chhattisgarh High Court has called out for a Scheme for compensating the family members of the prisoner who died of unnatural circumstances in jail.

The Court held that a person who is in prison has a right to be protected under Article 21 of the Constitution.

A Division Bench of Chief Justice Ramesh Sinha and Justice Ravindra Kumar Agrawal ordered, “But, as the concern which has been pointed by learned amicus curiae, which is also the concern of the Court that a person, who is in prison, has right to be protected under Article 21 of the Constitution of India for which the Court hopes and trusts that the State may brings out a Scheme for compensating the family members of the prisoner, who died in unnatural circumstances in jail and if required, necessary legislation may also be brought by the State.

Advocate Sunil Pillai represented the Petitioner, while Senior Advocate Ashish Shrivastava and Additional Advocate General Y.S. Thakur appeared for the Respondents.


The Petitioner contended that in the event of the unnatural death of an inmate, the State did not have any Scheme to compensate the family members. It was argued that it is a fundamental right of a prisoner that his life should be safe in prison under Article 21 of the Constitution.

The Director General of Prisons and Correctional Services had filed an affidavit to show that some remedial measures have already been taken by the jail authorities time and again and in that regard certain instructions and public circulars have also been annexed.

As per the chart in the said affidavit, the High Court noted, “no doubt from 2019 to 2024 there is decrease in the case of unnatural death in prison and only one natural death is reported to be taken place in the year 2024.

The Bench stated that a person who is in prison has a right to to be protected under Article 21 of the Constitution. Therefore, it stated, “the Court hopes and trusts that the State may brings out a Scheme for compensating the family members of the prisoner, who died in unnatural circumstances in jail.”

The Court also ordered that “if required, necessary legislation may also be brought by the State.”

Accordingly, the High Court listed the matter for 2nd April, 2025 for further monitoring.

Cause Title: Shivraj Singh v. State of Chhattisgarh & Ors. (WPPIL No. 11 of 2013)

Appearance:

Petitioner: Advocate Sunil Pillai

Respondents: Senior Advocate Ashish Shrivastava; Additional Advocate General Y.S. Thakur; Central Government Counsel Anmol Sharma; Advocates Afroz Khan, Udit Khatri, Shristhi Upadhyay and Sajal Kumar Gupta

Click here to read/download the Order