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In a reply to PIL filed by Advocate Amit Sahni the division Bench of Delhi High Court issued a notice to Delhi government and the Director General (Prisons) demanding to allow inmates of Delhi prisons for conjugal visits. Conjugal visits in prison are private meetings between a male or female inmate with their spouse or partner, during which the couple may share intimacy or engage in whatever legal activity they desire.
The above contention by the petitioner is raised on the basis of facts that various Psychologists and psychiatrists have believed that the frustration, tension, the ill feelings, and the heart-burnings can be reduced and a human being can be better constructed if they are allowed conjugal relationship and it can also cuts down criminal behavior inside jails. The PIL standing for the rights of inmates stated that prisoners suffer lack of private contact with family and thereby sought an direction for setting aside of Rule 608 of Delhi Prison Rule, 2018 which provides only for interview of a prisoner with his or her spouse and family but in the presence of a Prison Officer.
The petitioner cited a Punjab and Haryana High Court decision in Jasvir Singh V. State of Punjab in which it was held that "The right to procreation survives incarceration. Such a right falls within the ambit of Article 21 of our Constitution read with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights". It had earlier directed the State for constituting a Jail Reforms Committee to formulate a scheme for creating an environment for conjugal and family visits for a certain categories of jail inmates keeping in mind the beneficial nature and reformatory goals of such facilities.
Advocate Sahni submitted before the court that Delhi prisons, inmates suffer isolation from their families as their contact with the outside world remains limited to phones, letters and which is hardly private and can be called off by the prison officials at any moment. Also it was informed to the court that most of the prisoners in Delhi jails fall under sexually active age group i.e. 21-50 years but are denied conjugal rights which is one of the reasons for increasing sex crimes and violence in jails. The petitioner contended that denial of conjugal rights is a gross violation of fundamental rights of not just the inmates but also of their spouses who suffer without any wrong. The SC bench upon noting that the PIL raised a sensitive and interesting issue has issued notices to the parties seeking their response within four weeks.
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