Chapter XIII DISCIPLINE IN PRISONS

Discipline in prisons-

1. (1) The officer-in-charge shall have the necessary authority and will be responsible for maintaining discipline in the prison and amongst the prisoners, prison officers and staff, in accordance with the provisions of this Act and rules made there-under.
2. (2) The manner of enforcing discipline in the prisons shall be such as may be prescribed under the rules.
3. (3) It shall be the duty of every prisoner to obey the orders and instructions of a prison officer and to abide by the provisions of this Act and to comply with such other directions as may be prescribed under the rules.

Prison Offences- The following acts are declared as prison offences, when committed by a prisoner, namely:

1. (i) wilful disobedience of any rule or regulation of the prison, as prescribed under this Act or under the rules made there-under;
2. (ii) any assault or use of force on anyone;
3. (iii) deliberate and persistent use of insulting or threatening language;
4. (iv) immoral or indecent or disorderly behaviour;
5. (v) wilfully disabling himself from labour;
6. (vi) continuously refusing to work if the prisoner has been punished with rigorous imprisonment;
7. (vii) wilful idleness or negligence at work by any convict prisoner sentenced to rigorous imprisonment;
8. (viii) wilful mis-management of work by any convict prisoner sentenced to rigorous imprisonment;
9. (ix) wilful damage to prison property;
10. (x) tampering with or defacing history tickets, records or documents maintained in physical or electronic form;
11. (xi) receiving, possessing or transferring any prohibited article;
12. (xii) wilfully making a false accusation against any prison official;
13. (xiii) omitting or refusing to report, as soon as it comes to his knowledge, the occurrence of any fire, any plot or conspiracy, any attempt to escape or preparation to escape or attack on any prisoner or any other person or prison official;
14. (xiv) escape or attempt to escape, conspiring to escape, or to assist in escaping;
15. (xv) un-authorized use or possession of wireless communication devices and/or their ancillary components;
16. (xvi) trespassing in or loitering about in the prison premises where entry may not be allowed;
17. (xvii) unauthorized communication with any person outside prison; (xviii) pretending to be a prison official or employee of the Directorate;
18. (xix) smuggling or attempting to smuggle or to have in possession any prohibited article in the prison;
19. (xx) intimidating fellow prisoners into making false representations against the prison officials;

1. (xxi) participating in or inciting mass hunger strike or any other act of defiance or indiscipline;
2. (xxii) sexual harassment or sodomy; (xxiii) participating in, or organizing anti-social activities like gambling;
3. (xxiv) aiding or abetting the commission of any of the aforesaid offences.

Punishment for Prison Offences- The officer-in-charge, after conducting an inquiry as prescribed under this Act and the rules made there-under, may impose any of the following punishments with respect to the prison offences indicated in section 39, except in such cases which constitute an offence under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (45 of 2023) or any other special or local laws,-

1. (i) A formal warning, which means a warning personally addressed to a prisoner by the officer-in-charge and recorded in the punishment book and in the prisoner's history ticket;
2. (ii) Stoppage of recreational facilities up to a period of one month.
3. (iii) Forfeiture of remission earned for a period up to three months.
4. (iv) Stopping visits for a period of not more than one month (does not include the visit of an advocate).
5. (v) Separate confinement for a period not exceeding one month.

Punishment for possessing or using mobile phones and other contraband-

1. (1) Prison inmates are forbidden from possessing or using mobile phones and other electronic communication devices in prisons. Whoever, being a prisoner or a visitor or a prison official, in contravention of any provisions of the Act or rules made there-under, is found possessing or using such devices or introduces or removes or attempts by any means whatsoever, to introduce into or remove from any prison, or supplies or attempts to supply to any prisoner, any prohibited article, and every officer or staff of a prison who, contrary to any such rule, knowingly allows any such article to be introduced into or removed from any prison, to be possessed by any prisoner or to be supplied to any prisoner and whoever, contrary to any such rule, communicates or attempts to communicate with any prisoner, and whoever abets any offence made punishable by this section, shall, on conviction before a Magistrate, be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years, or fine not exceeding twenty five thousand rupees, or both.
2. (2) Whoever, being a prisoner or a visitor or a prison official, is found in possession of, or operating or using, an electronic device or a wireless communication device or any of its ancillaries or components, or if any such person is found to be assisting or abetting or instigating in the supply there-of, or if any such person is found to be manipulating, damaging or destroying any equipment in the prison, electronic or otherwise, shall, on conviction before a Magistrate, be liable to imprisonment for a minimum period of two years which may extend to three years or with fine not exceeding twenty-five thousand rupees or with both.
3. (3) The prisoner shall undergo the sentence awarded under sub-section
4. (1) or sub-section
5. (2) above, on completion of any sentence if already undergone.
6. (4) The offences mentioned in sub-sections
7. (1) and
8. (2) above, shall be cognizable and non-bailable.

Procedure on repeated committal of a prison offence- If any person in the prison premises is guilty of an offence against prison discipline, which by reason of his having frequently committed such offence or otherwise, in the opinion of the officer-in-charge, is not adequately punishable by the infliction of any punishment which he has the power to inflict under this Act, the officer-in-charge shall forward the case of such prisoner to the competent Magistrate having jurisdiction, together with a statement of the circumstances, and such Magistrate shall there-upon try the charge so brought against the prisoner, and upon conviction, may sentence him to imprisonment which may extend for a period up to three years.

Display of prison offences and penalties Display of prison offences and penalties- The officer-in-charge may cause to be affixed at a conspicuous place inside the prison, a notice in English and in the vernacular language, setting forth the actions prohibited under this Act and the penalties incurred by their commission, for the information of the prisoners and prison staff.