The Madras High Court has asked the Tamil Nadu government to consider allowing conjugal visits for prison inmates across the State.
A single bench of Justice SM Subramaniam directed the State to contemplate a scheme similar to the one implemented in Punjab, where low-level prison inmates are granted conjugal visits for fixed hours, once every two months.
Conjugal visits in the prison context refer to the concept of permitting an inmate to spend time in privacy with their spouse within the prison premises, allowing for physical intimacy and procreation.
While some courts, including the Madras High Court, have previously granted parole to inmates on the grounds of conjugal rights, Punjab introduced a system in September 2022, allowing inmates conjugal visits within the prison premises.
The guidelines issued by the Punjab government clarify that conjugal visits cannot be claimed as a right. The State permits visits by spouses for two hours once every two months, and the visiting spouse must provide a valid ID, proof of marriage, and a medical certificate declaring that they do not have HIV or any other sexually transmitted disease.
Justice Subramaniam communicated an official request to the Government of Tamil Nadu to consider implementing the scheme for extending ‘conjugal rights’ to prisoners, following a ‘surprise inspection’ he conducted at the Puzhal Central Prison in Chennai. He conducted the inspection on July 8, accompanied by the District Judge and the Chief Judicial Magistrate of Thiruvalur.
During the inspection, the High Court judge found several deficiencies in the prison’s facilities. Subsequently, he discussed the issues with the State government, the State Prisons Department, the Police, and other stakeholders, and then issued a series of directives to improve all prisons in the State.
Apart from proposing the conjugal visits scheme, Justice Subramaniam also ordered the State to take necessary steps to release 38 prison inmates who, despite being granted bail, were still languishing in jail because they could not arrange sureties.
“Presently 38 prisoners are languishing in prison for whom Bail had been granted. They are not released from prison for want of production of sureties. As per the judgement of the Apex Court of India, those persons are to be released on furnishing own bond. Necessary steps are to be taken immediately to file modification petitions before the Court concerned for securing necessary orders. Such an action is to be taken through the Legal Services Authority in co-ordination with the prison authorities. We request that the said exercise shall be completed within a period of two (2) weeks from today,” the bench stated.
