Guwahati, Sep 16 (IANS) The Gauhati High Court has initiated suo motu proceedings over serious concerns surrounding prison conditions in Assam, including HIV infections, overcrowding, inadequate mental healthcare, suicides and delays in processing remission applications, officials said on Wednesday.
A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Ashutosh Kumar and Justice Arun Dev Choudhury directed the Assam government to file a detailed affidavit outlining remedial measures.
The matter has been listed for hearing on October 8.
The proceedings followed reports concerning inmates at Guwahati Central Jail, where several prisoners had tested positive for HIV.
Court records cited in the proceedings also referred to overcrowding and healthcare deficiencies across multiple prisons.
An inspection by the Assam State Legal Services Authority reportedly found as many as 42 to 45 inmates housed in single rooms with one toilet in some jails, including facilities in Nalbari, Dhubri, Hailakandi and Sribhumi.
The court also expressed concern over communication difficulties faced by prisoners from other states, particularly those lodged in Sivasagar and Dhubri jails.
The bench highlighted gaps in psychiatric care, with inspection findings pointing to irregular visits by mental health professionals.
The court also took note of reported suicides and unnatural deaths, including incidents in Nalbari and Udalguri jails.
According to the material placed before the court, 27 unnatural deaths and suicides were reported in Assam’s prisons over the past five years.
A separate inspection on August 2 found 1,672 inmates housed at Guwahati Central Jail against a sanctioned capacity of 1,400.
The facility included 77 women prisoners.
The report also recorded HIV-positive inmates, a tuberculosis patient and prisoners receiving psychiatric treatment.
The High Court further raised concerns over delays in remission applications submitted by life convicts.
Some applications had reportedly remained pending before the Remission Board for two to three years.
Court records referring to a State Legal Review Board meeting held on March 19, 2026, showed that 32 remission proposals made in 2025 had been returned, while one of 58 life imprisonment cases had been approved.
Additional Advocates General P.N. Goswami and B. Gogoi, representing the concerned departments, were asked to place the state government’s response before the bench.
The court’s intervention comes amid wider concerns over HIV infections in Assam’s prisons.
Earlier reports indicated that 226 inmates across 31 jails tested positive for HIV between April and July 2026, with officials attributing nearly 95 per cent of cases to injecting-drug-use-related factors.
The proceedings will examine the measures required to address prison health, safety, overcrowding and administrative concerns across the state.
–IANS
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