Overview
- Acting on its own motion, the Haryana Human Rights Commission ordered detailed jail‑wise reports ahead of an August 13 hearing.
- The order names top state officials to respond, including the additional chief secretaries for Home and Jails and for Health, the director general health services, and the director general of prisons.
- NCRB figures presented to the panel show 15 unnatural inmate deaths in 2024, all recorded as suicides, and note Haryana as the only state reporting firearm‑related clashes inside prisons.
- The bench invoked Article 21 rights and cited Haryana Prison Rules 299 and 300, which require tight control of tools and substances and close monitoring with counselling for inmates at risk of self‑harm.
- Authorities must detail policies to prevent suicides and violence, staffing and visit frequency for psychiatrists and counsellors, three‑year data on deaths and clashes, prison occupancy and crowding fixes, and steps to stop contraband, with the panel also recalling sparse counselling found earlier at Kurukshetra jail and referencing UN Mandela Rules as a benchmark.