Preamble:
Whereas it is necessary to frame rules for sending convicts to openprisons with
a view to encourage good conduct, satisfactory performance of workand a life of
self-discipline among the convict prisoners of Bihar; and to providethe convict
prisoners with a pre-release opportunity to learn social adjustment andeconomic
self-dependence, the Govt. of Bihar in exercise of the powers conferredby Sub
section (18) of sec. 59 of the Prisons Act. 1894 (Central Act 9 of 1894),hereby
makes the following rules, namely - (1)
The
rules may be called the BiharOpen Prison Rules, 2008, (2) It shall extend to
the whole of the State ofBihar, (3) They shall came into force on the date of
their publication in theBihar Gazette, In
these rules unless there is anything repugnant in thesubject or context; (i)
?Advisory committee? means a committee formed to supervise andevaluate the
working of the open Prisons and totake decision for transferring the eligible
prisoners to open Prisons. (ii)
?Assistant Inspector General? means the Assistant InspectorGeneral of
Prisons, Bihar, (iii)
?Deputy Secretary? means the Deputy Secretary to the Govt., HomeDepartment,
Bihar. (iv)
?Director Probation? means the Director of Probation Services. (v)
Bihar. (vi)
?Family?
means a prisoners mother, father, wife, husband, unmarrieddaughters and minor
children upto age of 18 years. (vii)
?Government? means the Government of Bihar. (viii)
?Inspector General? means the Inspector General of Prisons, Bihar, (ix)
?Officer-in-Charge? means any Jail officer deputed by the InspectorGeneral
of Prisons, Bihar for the purpose of looking after thePrisoners kept in an open
Prison. (x)
?Open Jail or Prison? moans the place, which is declared to be anopen Jail for
the detention of the Prisoners in pursuance of Subsection (1) of Section-3 of
the prisons Act, 189 (Central Act 9 of1894) as adopted to the State of Bihar. (xi)
?Superintendent? means the Superintendent of the Jail, whereconvicts who
are to be sent to the open Prison are confined. A
prisoner shall be eligiblefor admission to an open Prison, if :- (a)
His
ordinary place of residence is inside the State of Bihar, (b)
He
has been regularly performing his scheduled task in the Jail, (c)
He
has served at least one half of his substantive sentence, excludingremission,
In vase of prisoner sentenced to life imprisonment, he hasserved at least 10
years period in the jail, excluding remission, Thisrequirement may be relaxed
for prisoners above 60 years of age orprisoners with terminal diseases, (d)
He
has shown good conduct and behaviour, and has committed noprison offence, (e)
He
is not below the age of thirty years, (f)
He
is not in custody in any other case except the case in which hehas been
convicted, (g)
He
has been Illegible for not less than 6 years. (h)
He
is not ineligible for any reason as given in Rule 4. ?A Prisoner shall beineligible for admission to
open Prisons, if (a)
He
has been convicted by a court-martial. (b)
He
has been convicted under Explosive Substances Act,N.D.P.S. Act or National
Security Act. (c)
He
is convicted for crimes like rape, dacoity, kidnapping, terroristactivities,
crime against the state etc. (d)
He
is convicted for pre-planned mass murders or he is professionalmurderer, who
has been convicted for murder on contract. (e)
He
is convicted for murder of public servants on duty. (f)
He
has escaped from jail or from police custody or he attemptedto escape from any
lawful custody. (g)
He
is habitual offender with more than one previous convictions of imprisonment to
his credit. (h)
He
is acivil prisoner or detenue, (i)
He
is a habitual offender and comes in the purview of Rule 573 (1)of Bihar Jail
Manual. The
Superintendent or the jail concerned shall forward applicationof a prisoner
desirous and eligible for admission to open prison to theInspector General of
Prisons with his recommendation. The format for thispurpose will be prescribed
by Inspector General of Prisons. (1)
All
the recommendations sent by the Superintendent of various jails shallbe put up
before the Advisory Committee under the chairmanship ofInspector General of
Prisons. The committee after going through therecommendations of the
Superintendents will, subject to availableaccommodation from time to time,
select prisoners to be sent to openprison. (2)
The
committee may reject the proposal of a prisoner, even if itfulfills criterion
given in Rule 3, citing reasons for doing so. (3)
Ordinarily,
preference would be given to those convicts who haveserved longer term of
sentence inside closed prison. The committeemay also decide criterion to
prepare priority list, subject to theprovisions of these rules. (1)
The
prisoner will be allowed to engage inlivelihood activity inside the open prison
with the permission ofofficer in charge. The livelihood activities, which are
allowed in theopen prison, will be prescribed by the I.G. Prison. (2)
Jail
Administration may give vocational] training to these prisoners toenable them
to earn their Livelihood. (3)
Ifa
prisoner has no work within the campus of open prison, he maybe allowed to engage
himself in job out side the open prison campus,with the approval of I.G.
Prisons, within the area with a radius of5 K.M. (4)
A
prisoner, who prefers to work outside the open prison area, shallgive complete
detail about the place of work, nature of job andparticulars of employer and
other details in prescribed form to theofficer in charge concerned. Such
prisoners shall necessarily returnto open prison on or before the time of
evening roll-call. Only daytime jobs will be allowed outside the Open prison
campus, (5)
Jail
authorities shall be at liberty to pay surprise visits to the place of work of
the prisoner. If the prisoner is not found at the prescribedplace, the officer
in charge may take necessary action against thedefaulting prisoner and may
recommend his withdrawal from openprison and retransfer to the closed jail, and
such prisoner shall also be proceeded against for having committed prison
offence. (1)
The
wages or earnings as earned by the prisoners shall beutilized by them for
themselves or for their families. (2)
Administrative
charges as fixed by the Inspector General of Prisonsshall be recovered form
each prisoner of the open prison out of hiscarning. (3)
The
prisoners shall be allowed to have a Saving Bank Account in thenearest Bank or
Post office. (1)
Prisoners/group
of prisoners/ Prisoners withfamilies shall be allotted tents/pre fabricated
accommodation/houses.as the case may be, at government expense for the time
they spendin open prison. 1.4. Prison will issue instructions regulating
theconstruction of houses, their use and allotment. (2)
Prisoners
will be entitled to get food ration as per diet scale orequivalent cash amount,
as prescribed by I.G. Prisons only forthemselves. ?Their family
members/attendant will not be entitled forfood ration/cash amount. The
prisoners can keep their families in the openprison with the permission of the
1.G. Prison, In case of prisoner above 60years of age, an attendant to take his
care may be allowed with thepermission of [.G. Prisons. The maximum number of
members living withthe prisoner will be 4. (1)
General
instructionsfor the internal management of the open prison (in view of
theirlocation, work daily average population, security etc.) shall fromtime to
time be issued by the inspector general of prisons. He may cause by such
instructions, the formation and working of ? (2)
Prisoner
Panchayat, (3)
?Work and discipline committee, and (4)
Prisoners
Cooperative Society in the open prison. (5)
The
prisonerspanchayat shall consist of seven members. Themember's will be called
'Panch'. The 'Panch will be elected by theprisoners, through a process of
voting from amongst theprisoners. The term of each Panchayat will be for one
year from thedate of constitution of Panchayat. (6)
The
prisoners Panchayat shall be empowered to deal with minor acts of commissions/omissions/misconduct
of the prisoners. It mayalso impose minor penalty on the defaulter prisoner
e.g. fine uptoRs. 200/- or pulling the defaulter to additional hard labour to
theworks of common utility or social boycott for upto one month orcurtailment
in facilities admissible to prisoner, subject to approvalof officer in charge
of open prison (7)
Electricity
charges up to prescribed limit will be paid bygovernment. I.G. Prisons will
issue instructions regarding this limitand usage of electricity. (8)
The
prisoners shall have to attend a roll-call each morning, andevening at the time
fixed by the Inspector General of Prisons. (9)
Prison
authorities (Superintendent or Jailor),in whose jurisdictionthe open prison is
situated, shall visit the open prison at least once a week, and shall interview
all the prisoner. Prisoners
who commit actof misconduct or who full to pay penalties as imposed by the
prisoner'sPanchayat or who do not perform their scheduled task or who for any
otherreason are found undesirable i: the open prison shall be sent back to
theclosed jails by the Officer-in-Charge of the open prison with permission
ofthe Inspector General of Prisons. Prisoners
lodged in open prison shall be entitled for ordinaryremission subject to a
maximum limit of 5 days a month for their good conduct and behaviour. They will
be-eligible for special remission of thesuperintendent, If they are engaged in
community work, sanitary work orsecurity work subject to maximum of 2.5 day per
month. They shall be entitled for I.G.(Prisons) remission once a year depending
upon therecommendation of the officer in charge. They shall be eligible for
StateGovernment remission awarded on special occasions. Prisoner's
History Ticket and remission cards shall be retained andmaintained in the
closed jail office in whose jurisdiction the open prison issituated. Probable
date of release shall be calculated by theJail authorities of closed jail in
whose jurisdiction open prison is situated;and accordingly concerned prisoner
shall be transferred to the closed jailtwo weeks before the date of release. At
the time of release prisoner concerned shall be allowed to takeonly his
personal belongings along with him, but he would not be allowed to carry any
material that has been utilized for the construction of house in open prison
premises. For
the purpose of security and watch over theprisoners In Open prison, necessary
personnel will be deputed, who shall ensure proper discipline, regular
attendance and watch over activities of theinmates and their family members,
They shall also maintain a watch overthe visitors who come from outside to meet
the prisoners in open prison.The entry of visitors to open prison will be
regulated and the prison staffmay refuse entry to any person for security
reasons or to maintaindiscipline. Outsider coming to meet the prisoners may be
searched, ifrequired. An interview-cum-visitors register shall be maintained.
Prisonofficials will be at liberty to search the houses of inmates, if
required.A list of all prisoners living in the open prison shall be sent tothe
nearest Police Station. Medical
officer posted in the closed jail, in whosejurisdiction the open prison is
situated, shall visit the open prison once aweek and shall provide medical aid
to the needy prisoners. He shall alsoas attend the sick prisoner or his family members
in case of emergency. In case, a sick prisoner requires a higher treatment, be
shall be shifted tonearest Govt. Hospital/ail Hospital on the recommendation of
jail doctor.The prisoner may be shifted to a hospital at other place outside
the districtbut inside the State and recommendation of medical board
constituted bycivil surgeon with the permission of District Magistrate. For
shifting theprisoner to a hospital outside the state, permission of State
Government willbe required.The Prisoners will be entitled to receive medicine
as in closedprisons. A
Committee consisting of the following shall beconstituted to direct, evaluate
and to take decision for transferring the eligible prisoners to Open prison:- 1. Inspector General of Prisons Chairman 2. Additional joint/Dy. Secretary to Govt.Home Department Member 3. Assistant Inspector General of Prisons Member Secretary 4. Director, Probation Services Member 5. Superintendent, Central Jail (to benominated by I.G.
Prisons.) Member The
quorum of Committee for transacting the business shall bepresent with 3 members
including the Chairman of the committee. The Committee shall sit normally in,
January and in July every year or at other times, HP required, and take
decision on selection/transfer of prisoners toopen prison. It shall also
evaluate the Working of open prison and SUPLESTsuch steps and measures, as are
considered necessary for the improvementin the open prison. The committee shall
submit its report together withproposals at the beginning of each financial
Year. The
Assistant Inspector Generals of Prisons shall inspect theopen prison once a
quarter and submit his report to the Inspector General ofPrisons. The Inspector
General of Prisons shall Inspect the open prison atleast once a Year and submit
his report to the Government. Not
withstanding anything contained in theserules the Government shall have full
powers to close Open prison or passorders in respect of any prisoner regarding
his withdrawal from open prisonand such orders shall be final. By
order of the Governor of Bihar (Afzal
Amanullah) Principal
Secretary to the Government.Bihar Open Prison Rules, 2008