Background and Overview

Hearing a PIL filed by NALSA under Article 32, the Supreme Court flagged the systemic neglect of elderly and terminally ill convicts across Indian prisons. The petition arose from NALSA’s nationwide Special Campaign for Old Prisoners & Terminally ill Prisoners (10 December 2024 – 10 March 2025), which identified 5,393 prisoners falling within these vulnerable categories — 1,886 undertrials and 3,507 convicts. Of these, 84 convicts above 70 years and 11 terminally ill convicts across 17 States and the NCT of Delhi were specifically before the Court. Only Bihar and Himachal Pradesh filed counter affidavits; other States remained silent despite notice issued on 5 May 2025.

Constitutional & Statutory Provisions

NALSA argued that continued incarceration in medically ill-equipped, overcrowded prisons breaches Articles 14 and 21, relying on Maneka Gandhi v. Union of India (substantive due process) and Sunil Batra v. Delhi Administration (prisoners’ right against cruel, inhuman treatment). The Court also invoked Article 51(c) to draw normative support from the UDHR, ICCPR, and the UNODC Handbook on Prisoners with Special Needs, adopting its definition of “terminal illness” as a condition with no reasonable medical possibility of avoiding death. Since “prisons” fall under List II, Entry 4 (State subject), the Court clarified it was not legislating but enforcing existing constitutional obligations against persistent executive inaction — referencing the Centre’s own 2010 Advisory on terminally ill prisoners, issued following Delhi High Court’s suo motu proceedings, which had gone largely unimplemented.

Precedents Cited

The judgment also relied on Dr. P. Varavara Rao v. NIA (2022) and Rasik Chandra Mondal v. State of West Bengal, where bail/interim release was granted to an 82-year-old and a centenarian respectively on medical grounds, alongside the Law Commission’s 268th Report favouring mandatory bail for life-threatening conditions.

Directions Issued

Exercising powers under Articles 32 and 142, the Court directed all States/UTs to:

  • Notify a comprehensive compassionate release policy within three months, in consultation with State Legal Services Authorities;
  • Define “terminal illness” uniformly, adopting the UNODC standard;
  • Constitute independent Divisional/State Medical Boards for certification;
  • Integrate the policy with UTRCs for periodic case review;
  • Digitise the entire process via the National e-Prisons Portal, with unique tracking numbers and automated compliance alerts;
  • File compliance affidavits within six months.

The Centre, through the Law Ministry, Home Ministry, and NIC (MeitY), was directed to provide technical infrastructure support. The Registry was also directed to implead 11 additional States and 8 UTs not originally party to the petition. The matter is listed next on 19 January 2027.

Case: National Legal Services Authority v. Union of India & Ors. (2026 INC 713 )