Solitary Confinement: Meaning and Legality

Around 200 years ago, there was a violent and obnoxious mentality regarding prisons, convicts, and punishment. An important principle that has been embraced after a protracted conflict with the state is the recognition of the human being in the convicted perpetrator. The socio-legal system in India is based on harmony, respect for one another, and consideration for the dignity of the individual. When someone violates the law, it does not follow that they stop being a person and cannot enjoy the rights and freedoms that are essential to human dignity. In view of the fact that torture in prison is not the final medicine in the justice pharmacopoeia but rather a confession of failing to do justice to a living being, it is true that even prisoners have rights.

What is Solitary Confinement?

A prisoner who is segregated from other inmates' sight and communication is said to be in solitary confinement. A prisoner is secluded from all human interaction as part of this form of punishment.

• The Supreme Court defined solitary confinement as a type of incarceration in which inmates are totally cut off from each other and from the outside world in Kishore Singh Ravinder Dev v. The State of Rajasthan.

• Solitary confinement, as defined by the United Nations Standard Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, is the incarceration of a prisoner for at least 22 hours each day without any human interaction.

According to Section 73 of IPC

Whenever any person is convicted of an offence for which under this Code the Court has power to sentence him to rigorous imprisonment, the Court may, by its sentence, order that the offender shall be kept in solitary confinement for any portion or portions of the imprisonment to which he is sentenced, not exceeding three months in the whole, according to the following scale, that is to say—

• A time not exceeding one month if the term of imprisonment shall not exceed six months;

• A time not exceeding two months if the term of imprisonment shall exceed six months and 1[shall not exceed one] year;

• A time not exceeding three months if the term of imprisonment shall exceed one year.

Solitary Confinement can be imposed-

It can have two propositions −

• Rigorous punishment − The convicted prisoner who is required to spend time in solitary confinement may be forced to perform labor-intensive tasks for which he will be paid minimal compensation. Only when the accused commits a heinous crime involving violence can harsh punishment be imposed.

• Simple punishment − Simple incarceration refers to less serious crimes. Only serious offenses—not minor infractions—may result in solitary incarceration. An individual who has been charged with a crime and is found guilty is kept behind bars without having to perform any hard labor.

Solitary confinement is a type of punishment that isolates the prisoner from all contact, sight, and conversation with other prisoners; it may or may not be combined with work.

Limits for Solitary Confinement

No sentence may include more than 14 days of solitary confinement at a time, for a total of three months. It must be given out at certain times and intervals.

• Solitary confinement shall not be longer than seven days in a month if the sentence is longer than three months. Solitary confinement shall last one month if the total length of the sentence is less than six months.

• Solitary confinement for two months may be ordered if the sentence is longer than six months but not more than a year. Solitary confinement shouldn't be longer than three months if the sentence is longer than a year.

Origin of Solitary Confinement

As a humanitarian substitute for existing corporal punishment, social and prison reformers in the late 1780s advocated for isolation. They hoped that the seclusion of the solitary cells would give the inmates the opportunity to think back on their wrongdoings, inspire moral and spiritual change, and elicit remorse. As soon as prisoners started hallucinating, feeling melancholy, worried, panicky, agitated, apathetic, confused, and deluded, as well as injuring themselves, it became clear that this practice was having a negative impact. By 1890, correctional institutions had stopped using this well-intentioned approach. In order to control the unpredictability inside jails as incarceration rose and overcrowding caused violence, SC reemerged, and since the 1970s, its misuse has proliferated.

Conclusion

Only for the safety and protection of a prisoner may solitary confinement be used. In addition, it shouldn't be applied as a form of discipline. With the exception of prison officials, prisoners held in solitary confinement are completely cut off from the outside world and are not allowed to engage with anyone. Solitary confinement is permitted under Sections 73 and 74 of the IPC, although there are restrictions because it is so harsh and has a negative impact on the prisoner's physical and mental health.

Frequently Asked Question

Q1. What really happens in solitary confinement?

Ans. Solitary confinement increases the risk of anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation, and psychosis in its victims. The practice has an impact on one's physical health as well, raising their risk for a variety of ailments like fractures, vision loss, and chronic discomfort.

Q2. What are the rules of solitary confinement?

Ans. Prisoners have to live 22–24 hours per day in confinement behind a heavy steel door. Contact with other people is severely restricted. Phone calls are infrequent, as are visits from distant relatives. Access to educational or therapeutic programming is severely restricted.

Q3. Is solitary confinement worse than death?

Ans. This significant discussion is launched by the Time-in-Cell Report from the Liman Program. The horrifying findings of the report corroborate what I have long believed: solitary confinement is at least as awful as the death penalty.

Q4. Why are prisoners put in solitary confinement?

Ans. People were frequently placed in solitary confinement for nonviolent, low-level offenses, including smoking, cursing, disobeying orders, or having small amounts of illegal substances.