The Leaflet / by Nihalsing Rathod

In a case arising from a death in a State-run mental health facility, a bench led by Justice Manish Pitale has laid down that compensation for custodial deaths must follow a logical, statutory formula and that the State’s existing policy of paying a fixed sum is woefully inadequate.
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In our prisons, we lose around two thousand lives annually. Deaths to due to various ailments and importantly due to lack of medical staff, including assault by co-prisoners and even due to torture of police is not new. Once a person is sent in judicial custody, it becomes the duty of the State to ensure that the person is provided with all such facilities as would require him to retain the same health he was in prior to his admission. 
In the case of Varavara Rao, the Court had held that prison is not conducive to deteriorating health of the octogenarian and granted him bail. However, Father Stan Swamy in the same case, who was suffering from Parkinson’s died in custody, allegedly due to lethargic medical attention.
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Also read:
▪ I saw firsthand how callous prison officials and their negligence led to Stan Swamy’s death (Scroll.in | by Arun Ferreira | Jul 2025)
▪ Side-effects of conscience: An account of prison medical care (The Leaflet / Apr 2024)
▪ Was the trial judge who convicted G.N. Saibaba biased? We will never know, and that is part of the injustice (The Leaflet / March 2024)
▪ Relatives of BK16 Flag Prison Authorities’ ‘Criminal Negligence’ and Deteriorating Health of Undertrials (Newsclick / Sep 2022)
▪ Jailers’ apathy? Political prisoners’ right to life in India is ‘almost non-existent’ (Countercurrents / Sep 2022)
▪ 4,484 People Died in Police Custody Since 2020: Govt Data (The Swaddle / Jul 2022)
▪ Poor Medical Care for Prisoners Explains Why Number of Custodial Deaths Is Only Rising (The Wire / Jan 2020)