Legal Framework for Prisoners’ Healthcare Reforms in Uttar Pradesh: An Analysis of Constitutional Mandates and Statutory Provisions

Abstract

The issue of medical treatment of prisoners holds a delicate balance of discussion in the realm of constitutional rights, human dignity and the dispensation of justice in India. The prison is a place in which the State has nearly complete control over the lives of people whose freedom it has taken by working the law. In such an environment, the role of the State is not only negative and it must not interfere arbitrarily with individuals, but also positive and affirmative that those detained must live in conditions compatible with human dignity. An aspect of this is to ensure that prisoners are protected and have their health promoted. While not mentioned specifically as a fundamental right in the constitution of India, the right to health has been steadfastly read into Article 21, March 19th, 2002. This understanding has changed the whole concept of imprisonment in the court from a mere custodial or punitive system to one that is also life-preserving, pain-relieving and reform-oriented.