INTRODUCTION
Justice is more than punishing the guilty;it also means treating every person in prison with dignity and humanity. The focus of media and public debate may be on the offences perpetrated, but behind bars, it’s another story completely. Prisons, in an ideal world, should reform and prepare men to make a meaningful contribution to society. But in India, these homes have gradually become known for suffering, deprivation and official neglect.
Prison conditions as they currently exist are making us ask if the ideals of justice and transformation are really attainable. India’s prison system is on the brink of implosion, not just because it suffers from major infrastructural strain but also due to systemic inefficiencies that have plagued it for decades. Below the surface of official neglect and public indifference is a human rights emergency: Overcrowded prisons demonstrate just how far this nation has yet to go in establishing a prison, Inmate Deaths seek news justice system that works.
THE SCALE OF THE CRISIS
Indian prisons house over 530,000 inmates as of 2025, and are severely overcrowded.[1]The national average of overcrowding in prisonsis 131% and two prisons in Delhi’s Tihar Jail have more than 400% occupancy.At least 176 jails nationwide have twice as many people or more than their facilities were designed to accommodate, while a dozen jails hold at least four times the number they are supposed to contain.
In these overpacked barracks, space is so scarce that prisoners sleep in shifts or have to spend the night in cramped positions. The prison is not supported by any real infrastructure; the sanitation, constantly on the verge of collapse, normalizes much-needed drinking water to a luxury and bedding to meagreness once again. Violence and mental anguish are rampant, taking a toll on inmates’ health, not to mention their hope.
[1]Nida Fatima Siddiqui,“Drop in inmates, additions but Indian prisons 120% full: Delhi jails most overcrowded at 200%, NCRB data”, The Print, 2024,https://theprint.in/india/drop-in-inmates-additions-but-indian-prisons-120-full-delhi-jails-most-overcrowded-at-200-ncrb-data/2754893/ (last visited on November 18, 2025)