1.    EXPANSION OF DELHI PRISONS

1937: Delhi Jail commissioned at Delhi Gate with Sh. M.E.L. Lewis, P.C.S(ADM) as first Jail Superintendent.

1958: Central Jail commissioned at Tihar with a sanctioned capacity of 1273   prisoners.

1980: District Jail constructed with a sanctioned capacity to lodge 740 prisoners.

1984-85: The existing Central Jail was trifurcated during this period as Central Jail No.1, 2 & 3     having   sanctioned capacity for each jail as 565, 455 & 740 prisoners respectively. 

1990: District Jail was elevated to Central Jail and designated as Central Jail No.4.

1996: Central Jail No.5 commissioned with a sanctioned capacity of 750 prisoners for keeping adolescents (between the age group of 18 to 21 years)

2000: Central Jail No.6 commissioned exclusively for lodging 400 female prisoners.

2003: Central Jail No.7 commissioned for lodging 350 prisoners.

2004: District Jail, Rohini commissioned for lodging 1050 prisoners.

2005: Central Jail No.8 & 9 commissioned for lodging 600 prisoners each.

2008: Construction of Mandoli Jail Complex for lodging approx. 3776 prisoners began in May,2008.

2016: Jail no-14, Mandoli was made operational in Oct 2016, with sanction capacity of 588 inmates. And after this Central Jail-13 also commenced in December 2016 with sanction capacity of 980 inmates, this Jail is also having 52 bedded Jail Hospital of Mandoli Jail Complex.

2017: Jail no-15, the High Security Jail commenced in March 2017 with sanction capacity of 248 inmates.                                                                                                                                                   In July 2017 Central Jail-16, the Woman Jail with capacity of 492 inmates commenced. In September 2017 Central Jail-12 commenced with sanction capacity of 980 inmates.Later in October 2017 Central Jail-11 commenced in October 2017 with sanction capacity of 700 inmates.

             There is also a proposal to construct jails at Narela and Baprola area in Delhi to decongest the existing prisons.

2. TOTAL ADMISSION AND RELEASE OF PRISONERS --- YEAR-2019.

During the year 57116 prisoners of different categories were admitted in the Prison and 55050 prisoners were released as per the following details.

          3. CAPACITY AND POPULATION OF JAILS AS ON 31.12.2019 

TOTAL POPULATION:

• There were total 17534 prisoners as on 31.12.2019.

4. TRENDS OF OVERCROWDING

The prison population as on 31.12.2019 has increased by 11.79% in comparison to the population as on 31.12.2018.   The increase in this year population is because of increase in undertrial population by (1.76%).  A increase of 1.53% in convict population has been observed in comparison to last year population. 

       ●   In year 2018, occupancy of prisons vis-à-vis sanctioned capacity was 154.27% whereas in the year 2019 an occupancy of 174.89% was observed.

5. PRISONER’S PROFILE

PRISON POPULATION category wise as on 31.12.2019.

As on 31.12.2019 there were 14382 (82.02% ) under trials, 3044 (17.36%) convicts and detenues & others 108 (0.62%) as compare to 12470 (80.26%) under trials, 2923 (18.89%) convicts, 75 (0.85%) detenues & others   respectively. Category wise prison population as on 31.12.2019 is shown in table below :-

• The figure includes 487 foreign prisoners majority of whom were from Nigeria, Nepal, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan etc. 

6.    DEMOGRAPHIC DETAILS OF PRISONERS:-

Prison administration compiles demographic details of the prisoners on the basis of information supplied by them at the time of their admission into the jail.   

A.           Marital Status :-

As per figures available married prisoners constitute 50.08% of total male population whereas unmarried form 49.92%.  In the female prisoner 80.29% of female population were married and 19.71% were unmarried.  The population wise marital status is shown below:-

B.   Educational Standard :-      

As per data compiled, majority of the prison population (around 66%) has education below class-X, thus proving the linkage between educational standard and criminality.  Lesser the literacy more the crime seems to be the trend.  The illiterates population constitute only 27.63% of the total population because of literacy programme being vigorously carried out in jails..  Most of the prisoners in this category are new comers. 

The Prison administration is taking every possible step to increase the literacy rate of the prisoners.  There are centers of National Institutes of Open Schooling and Indira Gandhi National Open University to impart education to  prisoners. More emphasis on Academic education is given in adolescents and female prisoners.  Adult education classes are being organized in every jail. 

Table-B reflects the education standards of the prisoners at the time of their admission in jail.

• The low percentage of illiterates is only because of adult literacy programme (Padho Aur Padhao) being vigorously pursued in all jails.

C.    Domicile :-

Delhi being a cosmopolitan city, there is mixture of prisoners from Delhi and outside Delhi. The following were the salient features on the domicile of prisoners:

         Around 72.81% of prison population belong to Delhi, an increase of  0.56% as 

              compared to last year-2018 population.

                           24.66% belongs to outside States like UP, Haryana, Bihar and Rajasthan etc. 

                           Remaining 2.53% are foreigners.

D.   Income status of the prisoners :-

Income wise detail of prisoners is shown below:

• The majority segment of prisoners which is around 78.9%, comes from the lower income strata of society where the monthly income does not exceed Rs.8000/- p.m. thus establishing the linkage between poverty and criminality.

• Around 49.785% of the prison population comprises of people who earn an annual income below Rs.50,000/- at the time of their arrest. 

E.   OCCUPATION OF INMATES AS REPORTED BY THEM

The occupation of inmates at the time of their arrest is shown below:

TABLE E

-> 279 Prisoners were Govt. Servant at the time of admission.

7.  AGE-WISE POPULATION OF PRISONERS

The age-wise classification of under trial and convicted prisoners ( as on 31.12.2019) is depicted in the table- A & B below:-

Majority of the prison population (around 50%) was in the age group of 21-30 years. 

•  Prisoners in the age group of 31-40 years constituted 36.93% of the total prison population.

The Prison Administration regularly takes up cases of seriously sick and aged prisoners with the concerned trial courts so that, if the court considers it fit, they can be released on bail.

8. RECIDIVISM DURING THE YEAR 2019.

Around 22.89% of the prison population admitted during the year comprised of repeaters/habitual offenders.  These prisoners are kept separate from first time offenders from the very first day of their admission.  They are not allowed to come in contact with other prisoners.

Table A and B show the recidivism rate in the convicts and undertrials.

Table A.

Table B.

9.    OFFENCE WISE POPULATION OF PRISONERS

A.    UNDER TRIALS :-  

The under trial population is divided into two categories: one comprises under trials who are facing charges under Indian Penal Code (IPC) offences and others who are facing charges under Local and Special Act Cases. (L & S A Cases).

The detailed offence wise analysis of under trial prisoners is explained in Table below: 

            IPC CASES                                                        LOCAL AND SPECIAL ACT CASES

The convict population is similarly divided into two categories, one comprising convicts, who have been convicted under the offences of Indian Penal Code (IPC) and others who are convicted under Local and Special Act Cases.

The detailed offence wise analysis of convict prisoners is depicted in table  below :-

10.   OFFENCE-WISE PERCENTAGE OF CONVICTS & UNDER TRIALS.

        Offence-wise percentage of convicts and under trials is shown in table  below

11.        DETAILS OF SENTENCE AS ON 31.12.2019.

            Details of number of convicts undergoing various sentence is shown in table below.

    In the year 2018, there were 1317 convicts undergoing life imprisonment and

        14 prisoners were facing death penalty.  In the year 2019, there were 1288

        life convicts and 14 prisoners facing death penalty thus a decrease of 29 life

        convicts while the number of death penalty convicts remained constant. 

12.  Overcrowding of Under trials.

The under trial population comprises 82.02% of the total jail population.  Therefore, a major challenge before the prison administration is to take  necessary steps to reduce under trial population with the help of judiciary.  Additionally, new jails are being constructed to reduce overcrowding.   A number of steps have been taken to decongest under trial population, some of which are as under:-

• There is timely and complete production of under trials before the court so that a trial is not prolonged because of non attendance of a prisoner.  The escort for the prisoners is being provided by Delhi Armed Police.

• Special courts are being regularly organized at Tihar Court Complex for disposal of minor offences where the under trial is ready to confess his crime before the Magistrate who is holding the court on every third Saturday.  Care is taken so that no habitual prisoner may take advantage of special courts for which the list of prisoners is first scanned by fingerprint bureau of crime branch, Delhi Police.

•  A list of under trials who have been granted bail by the courts but are unable to furnish surety is being compiled on weekly basis so that if the court thinks it proper the prisoner could be released on relax surely condition or on personal bond.

• Cases of seriously sick prisoners are being taken up with trial courts for their release on bail as per law.

• Directions have been issued to Jail Superintendents to ensure that no prisoner is unnecessarily detained by the staff because of inaccuracy of case particulars on release warrants.  In this regard, detailed guidelines have been issued by Prison Headquarters.

 The below mentioned table reflect the average period of detention of under trials as on 31.12.2019.

• Around 19.35% of the under trial population is released within three months of their arrival. 
• There were 252 under trials who were in prison for more than 5 years.  Such prisoners are facing trial in heinous offences like murder, rape, terrorist activities.
• Legal aid advocates are visiting jails and imparting legal aid to needy prisoners so that they may not languish in jails.
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13. HUMAN RIGHTS AND LEGAL AID

      No. of complaints received from NHRC and their disposal during the year 2019:-

Jail inspection during the year 2019:-

No. of Prisoners provided Legal Aid in 2019:-

STATISTICS AT A GLANCE – YEAR  2019. 

• No. of jails: 16
• Sanctioned capacity: 10026

• Actual population as on 31-12-2019: 17534

• Total admissions of prisoners in a year: 57116
• Total releases of prisoners in a year: 55567
• No. of inmates taken to court: 307917 (avg. per day 1253)
• No. of inmates provided medical attendance: 327400 (avg. per day 1254)
• No. of prisoners referred to outside hospital: 20709 (avg. per day 79)
• No. of prisoners granted parole: 466
•  No. of complaints received from NHRC: 76
• No. of life convicts: 1288
• No. of death sentence prisoners: 14
• Number of Repeater prisoners:

       Male: 11723   

       Female: 328

• Total accomplishment of mandate – no escape, no riots, no major violation.