Ranbir Singh Sehgal v. State of Punjab

Subba Rae J. not less duration than such periods, and when the imprisonment ;iwarded shall exceed three months, the solitary ''onfinement shall not ex<'.eed seven days in any one month of the whole imprisonment awarder., with inter-vids between the periods of solitary confine-ment of nut less dumtion than such periodF." Section 2!) of the Prisons Act reads, "No cell Rball be user! for solitary con· finement unles8 it is furnished with the means of enabling the prisoner to communicate at any time with an officer of the prison, and every prisoner 80 confined in a cell for more than twenty-four hours, whether as a puni-shment or otherwise, shall be visited at least once a day by the Medical Officer or Medical Subordinate."

Ctillular confinement is a punishment which can be imposed on n prisoner by a Superintendent of Jail. A Superintendent of Jail cnn punish in a suitable ca.ee a prisoner by imposing on him cellu-lar confinement for a period not exceeding fortee_n <lays, provided that after each period of ecllnfar confinement an interval of not leSB than such period must elapse before the prisoner is again sen-tenced to cellular or solitary confinnment. Cellular confinement ia·defincd to mean such confinement with or witout labour as entirely secludes a prisoner from communioation with, but not from sight of, other prisoners. Sepamto confinement is defined to mean such confinement with or without labour as secludes a prisoner from communication with, but not from sight of, other pri1011ers, and allows him not less than one hour's exercise per diem and to have his meals in association with one or more other prisoners. Separate confinement for a period 1961 not exceeding three months can be imposed on a Ranbir Sineh Se\gal prisoner in a suitable case by the Sup• intemlent v. of Jail. (Vide s. of the Prisons Act). State of P1mjab 46(8) Subha Rao ,f, Section 47 of the Prisons Act prohibits the combination of cellular confinement with separatn confinement so as to prolong the total period of seclusion to which a prisoner shall be liable. Soli-tary confinement can be giYen only by a court and the other two by a Superintendent of Jail for jail offences. The provisions concfived in the inter-est of the physical, moral and mental health of prisoners impose stringent conditions in carrying out those senten~es in urder to prevl'nt their abuse.

But in the interest of maintaining diseipline among the inmates of jail, the Prisons Act and the Jail Manual prescribe rules for a separation of prisoners.

The separation of prisoners depends upon t.he nature of the prisoner, the class to which he be-longs aml the availability of adequate number of cells. Section 27 of the Prisons A•"t provides that, (1) in a prison containing female as well as male prisoners, the females shall be imprisoned in sepa-rate buildings, or separate parts of the same build-ing, i11 such manner as to prevent their seeing, or conversing or holding any intercourse with the male prisoners; (2) in a prison where male prisoners under the age of twenty-one are confined, means shall be provided for separating them nltogether from the other prisoners an<l for separnting t.hcse of them who have arrived nt the age of puberty from those who have not ; (3) unc0nvictcd crimi-nnl prisoners shall be kept apart from convicted criminal prisoners ; and ( 4) civil prisoners shall be kept apart from criminal prisoners. Section :!H of the said Act says,

"Subject to the requirements of the last foregoing section, convicted criminal prison-ers may be confined either in association or

302 SUPREME OOURT REPORTS [1!!62) SUPP·

1961 individually in cells or partly in one way and Ra11bir Si11gh S1li_,al partly in the other".

Y. Presumably in exercise of the power conferrPd Statt of Punjab

on tho State Government by s. 59 of the Prisons Subha Ra" J. Act, certain rules were framed for the separation

of prisJners >ind they arc contain Pd in the Jail l\fanual. Under para. 571 of the Jail Manual, "all convicts shall, so far as thn requirements of labour and the cell accommodation of the Jail will allow, be kept separate both by day and by night." Paragraph 572 dee.ls with the occupation of vacant cells, and para. 573 says that "convi0ts of the habitual class shall be subjected to the system of separation prescribed in the preceding rulPs, in rotation." Paragraph 574 provides. "Jf, at any time, there a.re more cells in any jail than suffice for thP separation of all convicts of the habitual class, prisoners of the c.MJual class shall be confined in cells, both by day and night, in rotation.'' Then comes the impugned provision, namely, para. ;37 5, which reads :

"A convict who would ordinarily CC;m<> under the operation of any of the preceding rules relating to the separation of prisoners, hut cannot be confined in a cell by day, by reason that he is required for some jail ser-vice, Rha.11 bP. confined in a cell by night.'' These mies, along with the provisions of the PJ"iaous Act, furm an integrat1;rl scheme r,onceived for the maintenance of discipline of prisoners, and tho preforcntial treatment in the allotment of cc lls is b.asod upon sex, age, nature of the crime commit-ted and the naturfJ of the prisoners, and also the nvaila.bility of cells.

Tho question is whether para.. 575 of the Jail Manual offends Act. J 4 of tho Constitution. The said provision is only in a group of rules provid-ing for the separation of prisoners and it only says that if a prisoner to whom any of the prison rules

applies oa.nnot be confined to a cell by day Bhall 1161 be confined in a cell by night. It pre-supposes that Runbir Singh .. Sehgal the prisoner concerned belongg to the category to whom a separate cell is allotted and, by reason Stole of Punjab of his being required for jail service, cannot be Subba Rtlo J. confined to the cell by day : in such a case it says that he shall be confined to the cell by night. It is only a rule providing for a contingency when a prisoner who should be so confined in a cell both by day and night cannot be confined by day in such a cell. But the objection may be taken to mean that the other rules, along with this rule enable a Superintendent of Jail to put a prisoner in a cell offends Art. 14 of the Constitution.

It is settled law that Art. 14 of the C'onstitu· tion permits classification, and the said classification must bear just and reasonable relation to the object of the legislation. The object of the said provision is to maintain discipline among the inmates of jail.

The classification is made on the basis of sex and the nature of the prisoners and also on the availa· bility of cells. The cla.ssifioation has certainly a reasonable relation to the object sought to be achieved by the 'legislation; nor can . the power conferred on the Superintendent to separate pr.isoners be said to be arbitrary. The object of the conferment of the said power is very limited, and the provisions clearly lay down the conditions for separation. The power to separate is entrusted to the higheat officer in the jail premises, who may ordinarily be expected to act reasonably, objecti· vely and without bias. In these circumstances, we must hold that para. 57 5 of the J11.il Manual in its setting_ does not'offend the provisions of Art. 14 of the Constitution.

The next quostion is whether in purported exercise of the ea.id power the ~uperintendent in the present case acted with ma/,a .fidea and meted out discriminatory treatment to the petitioner and thus offended Art. 14 of the Constitution. In the

304 SUPREME OOURT REPORTS [1962] SUPP.

1M1 affidavit filed in the Writ Petition, the petitioner Ranhir Singh Sthtal made certain allegations against the Superintendent

v, in respect of his treatment in jail. The aaid allega-SltUt of Pl»tjah

tions may be summarized thus : The petitioner wM S11bhE1 Rr.n J. transferred to the judicial oustody at the Central

.Jail, Ambala, on May 7, 1969, after protracterl p0Jic3 custody of over eight months. On the very day of his arrival in the Jail, the petitioner was locked up in solita.ry confinement in a cell in the condemned prisoners block and "a lock up period of 24 hours inside the cell was clamped." Though ~overal representations were made b,v the relatives of the petitioner to the higher authorities, no redrnss was given to him. He waJ sought to be kept in the cell for 13 months till June 13, Hl60 when he was convicted in one of the cases filed against him. On June 14, 1960, the Superintendent of the Jail again ordered the petitioner to be locked up in complete solitary confinement under para. 575 of the Punjab Jail Manual, and again a con-finement of 24 hours inside the cell was "clamped". On December le, 1960, the Governor of Punjab ordered that the petitioner should be treated as a 'B' class prisonE1r, and even thereafter he was not transferred to the general ward of the prison where other 'B' class prisoners were kept confined, but he was kept in the same condemned prisoners ward. Though the lock-up period of 24 hours inside the cell was considerably reduced the ban imposed on his aR~ocin.tion with other pris0ners had not been relaxed. The petitioner was not allowed even to meet his co-accused who were in the general ward of the prison. While the other prisoners in the jail including the petitioner's co-accused were given numerous facilities i.o. of association work and recreation he was completely segregated in a cell without any such facilities. The jail authoritiea adopted this methorl of torture for ulterior pur· poses.

The Superintendent of the Jail filed a counter 1'61 affidavit. His answer to the grave allegations may Ranbir Singh 81h1•I be stated thus : On the very day of his arrival in •• the jail the behaved rudely and imper-Stall of Punj•b

p~titioner tinently towards the jail staff and in a defiant 'way 8u6ba Ruo J. tried to undermine jail discipline. He was not kept'

in solitary cell for ulterior motives. He committed 12 jail offences and he was punished for them.

After he was convicted he was put in a separate cell and that he was allowed one hour in the morning and one hour in the evening for exercise and also to have his bath outside the courtyard. After he was classified as a 'B' class prisoner, he was given amenities to which a 'B' class prisoner was, entitled under the rules, but in the interest of jail discipline he was segregated from other prisoners. The cell in which the petitioner was kept was one of the cells in block of 32 cells out of which only 8 were allocated for condemned prisoners and the rest were utilized for separate confinement for the segregation of hardened and troublesome convicted criminal prisoners. The petitioner was confint>d in the cell only for the night and he could move about in the o~n compound of the cell through-out the day.

The affidavit and the counter-affidavit dis-close the following admitted facts : The cell in which the petitioner was and is confined is one of the cells in the block of 32 cells out of which 8 cells are used for condemned prisoners. The cell has a small separate enclosure of its own. From the date the petitioner entered the prison, that is, on Ma.> 7, 1959, till he was convicted, that is, on June 13, 1960, when he was an under-trial prisoner, he was separately confined to a cell. Though the Superintendent 'Vaguely says that the peti-tioner was not looked-up fu a. solitary cell,, he practically admits that the petitioner was given separate confinement in a cell as punishment for jail olfenoes committed by him. Though he

3~ SUPREME OOURT REPORTS [1962] SUPP.

1961 denies that the petitioner was kept in a cell for 24 llanhi' SV.gh .. SJital hours, he doE.18 not say what facilities \Vere provided

for him to move a.bout or mix with other prisoners . Staie of Pwnjah The statement of off'ences committed by the Sub/xi R.. J. petitioner and the punishments inflicted on him

filed by the Superintendent does not contain any details and is thus vague. Section 12 of the Prisons Act enjoins on a. Superintendent to main-tain a punishment book, ands. 51 thereof l't'quires him to enter tho details therein. But the state-ment before us does not strictly comply with that section; and it is represented in court that no other register is maintained in the jail. The statement, vague as it is, shows that even on the first day of imprisonment, the petitioner was kept in a. separate cell and the offence alleged to have been committed by him is that he was rude and impertinent. The subsequent entries show that the petitioner attemp-ted to break articles and even ~ruck his head against wall or door. These a.ots of the petitioner appear to us to be more due to the effect of the inhuman and discriminatory treatment given to him even when he was an under-trial prisoner rather than a conscious attempt on his pa.rt to commit any jail offenoos. Be that as it may, we are not concerned at this stage whether the peti-tioner had committed those offences, for those were committed at a time when he was an under-trial prisoner with which we are not now directly concer-ned. The facts remain that even as an under-trial prisoner from the date he entered the premises of the jail, he was segregated from other prisoners and kept in a. separate cell.

Now coming to the second period, that is the period commencing from the date he waa con: victed till be was classified as a • B' class prisoner, that is, from June U, 1960 to December 15, 1960, the petitioner alleges that he was kept in solitary confinement a.s before throughout 24 hours of the day. In the counter-affidavit of the Superintendent it is not denied that the petitioner was kept in a 1961 separate cell, but it is stated therein that he was Ranbir Singh Sehgal given one hour in the morning and one hour in the v. Btat1 "f Punjab evening for exercise and also he was allowed to have his bath outside the courtyard of the cell. Subba Rao J. The Superintendent does not sta,te that he allowed the petitioner to communicate with others or to talk to other prisoners. It is not stated whether he was allowed for exercise to go out of the separate enclosure of the cell or whether he was allowerl. to mix up with other prisoners or to talk to them. During this period, the petitioner did not commit any jail offences and, therefore, his separate confinement in a cell could not be a punishment for an offence, but only for the main-tenance of discipline in the jail and for convenience of accommodation. There is nothing on the record 1 o suggest that he was guilty of any indiscipline during this period. If so, his confinement in a separate cell for a period of six months without allowing 'him to communicate with others is a punishment of either cellular confinement, separate confinement or solitary confinement. The restric-tions imposed on the prisoner on the pretext of separate allotment of a cell ignored even the limitations on the said confinements prescribed by s. 73 of the Indian Penal Code or s. 46 of the Prisons Act. The confinement of the prisoner in a separate cell in the manner it was done was cer· tainly illegal. ·

Coming to the third period after he was classified as a •B' class prisoner, the petitioner says that he was kept in the ea.me.condemned prisoners'

bloQk with the ·exception that the lock-up period of _24 hours inside t1!e cell was considerably reduced, but the ban imposed_ on his association with other prisoners . was not relaxed. The Superintendent does not say that the petitiOner was allowed to ·communicate or t<i speak with other prisoners. He also admits that the petitioner was confined to the 1'61 cell only in the night and that he can move a.bout ~bir Singh S.hgo/ within the open compound of the ooll throughout

v. the day; to put it in other words, the Superinten- !'tall of Punjab admits

dent that the petitioner is confined in a cell S•ll>a RaoJ. with a. small separate .. enclosure and tba.t the pris-

oner oan only move in that enclosure in the mom. ing. This kind of 9oniinement is either a. solitary confinement or cellular confinement, for it secludes the prisoner from communicating with or from the sight of other prisoners. If it is not a. aolit!l.ry confinement, it would certainly be a cellular con-finement. Even in a. separate confinement as a punishment the prisoner should be allowed to have one hour's exercise per diem and to have his meals in a.ssoGia.tion with one or more prisoners. The Superintendent, therefore, acted illegally in con-fining the prisoner in the manner he did, and be is not entitled to do so under the rules prescribed for separation of prisoners. It ma.y also be mentioned that during this period, there is no allegation that the petitioner' a conduct was otherwise bad. It is said that thti confinement is neither solitary, cellul11r or separate, for he is allowed to go to courts. The fact that a prisoner is to be sent to a. court on summons ha.a no bearing on the question whether the confinement is legal or not. On the facts disclosed in the case, we have no doubt that, for one reason or other, which is not clear from the record, the petitioner-was discriminated from other prisoners and, under the colour of the rules for separation, was illegally confined in a manner not authorized by law.

Before closing we would like to make some general remarks. The modem development of criminology has revolutionized the system of treat-ment of convicted prisoners. The old brutal treat-ment has given place to more humane: one. The concept of vengea.noo by society e.nd of the deter-renoe is fa.st dise.ppearing e.nd is being replaced by the concept of oorreotion a.nd rehabilitation. Though our jail administration is moving with 1961 times, it is not keeping pace with advanced Ranbir Singh Sehgal countries. A statute may reflect the modern trend v. and.may contain salutary provisions for fair treat-Slate of Punjab ment of prisoners; but in practice much depends Subha Rao J. upon the Superintendent, who is expected to imple-ment them in the spirit in which they are conceived.

A Superintendent of a jail may be a good dis-ciplinarian, but it is not enough: he should also be a humanitarian possessing conscience and having an awareness that to his care is entrusted an abnormal class of society deserving more a sympa-thetic approach and sincere attempt at rehabilitation than that of vindictiveness. In this case, the Super-intendent, as we have already stated, not only did not carry out the spirit of the rules but also broke the letter of the law and illegally placed the petition-er practically in solitary confinement from May 7, 1959 up to date.

In the result we hold that the confinement of the petitioner in a separate cell in the manner it is being done in this case is illegal and we direct the respondent to confine the petitioner in the prison in strict compliance with the provisions of the Prisons Act and the rules made thereunder. It is for the Government to consider, in the circumstances of this case, whether it is a fit case for transferring the petitioner to some other jail.

Writ Petition No. 147 of 1961 is allowed to the said extent, and there will be a similar order in Criminal Appeal No. 120 of 1961.

RAGHUBAR DAYAL, J.-I have had the advantage Raghubar DaJ<ll J. of perusing the jndgment prepared by my learned brother, Subba Rao J., and agree with him that paragraph 575 of the Punjab Jail Manual does not offend the provisions of the Constitution.

I however do not agree that there had been any illegal confinement of the appellant.

1~61 Tho appellant admitted to the jail as an wafi Ra1ibir Si'I.:.:~ S1hgal uu<lertrial prisoner for offences under s. 19 of the

v. Indian Arms Act and un<ler s. 5 of Indian Ex-Sr1:t •'.! P1qjrib

plosive Suhstan()(•s Act and the allegation was .that Rag.'mhar Dnyal J. he was conocrned in a conspiracy with others to

mudrr certain persons and to create disorder and anarchy in India. He behaved rudely and imper-tinently on admission into jail and showed a defiant attitude. In these circumstances, according to the affidavit of the Superintendent of the Jail, tlie appel· lant was ordered to be kept in cell under paragraph 569-A of the Jail Manual to maintain jail dis-cipline. The entry in the punishment register, in this connection, states in the column meant for noting the offences: 'He is very rude and imper-tinent. He has defiant attitude and tries to under-mine the jail discipline.' I am of opinion that it was not necessary for the jail authorities to make a more detailed note in the register with respect to the various acts committed or words spoken by the appellant on the occasion.

Section 51 of the Prisons Act provides what is to be recorded in this punishment book and re-quires to be recorded, among other matters, the prison-offence of which the prisoner is guilty. It does not require a detailed account of the actions of the prisoner which constituted the prison-offences. The <lesoription of the offences committed, suffices for the purpose of this register. The entry is not made for the purpose of adjudication of the offences or for the purpose" of the appellate authority, if any. It is just a record of the conduct of the accused and the action taken. The Superintendent, in this case, did not inflict any punishment of solitary confine-ment or separate confinement on the appellant for his conduct. He simply ordered that the appellant be kept in a cell under paragraph 469-A of tho Jail Manual.

There had been eleven other occasions when tho appellant committed prison offences. Those offences and the action taken there are also men-1961 tioned in the punishment register and a copy of Ronhir Singh Sehgal those entries has been filed in Court. What I have v. said in connection with the nature of the entry in State of Punjab connection with the incident on the day of admis-Raghubar Da;'ai J sion, applies equally to the other entries mentioned above.

The Superintendent has denied the allegations made by the appellant that he was kept in a sep-arate cell, not in the interests of the jail discipline, but for ulterior motives or under orders of a vindic-tive Government. There is no material on the re-cord to suggeat that the Superintendent of the jail was actuated, in passing the order for keeping the appellant in a separate cell, by any consideration other than that of the interests of jail discipline.

Therefore, the mere fact that the appellant was kept in a separate cell from the moment of his ad-mission in jail does not indicate malafides on the part of the jail Superintendent.

The appellant was kept segregated in a separate cell after his conviction as well, in view of paragraph 575 of the Jail Manual. He was allowed an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening for exercise. He was allowed to have a bath in the court-yard outside the cell. The fact that the Superintendent did not state in his affidavit that he allowed the petitioner to communicate with others or to talk to other prisoners or that the appellant was allowed to mix up with other pris-oners or to converse with them, does not necessarily mean that he disallowed any such thing or that, if he did so, the Superintendent acted against rules of faw. The Superintendent denied that the appellant's request to meet Hari Das was disallowed.

There is no allegation that he had not been afforded the facilities .which are to be provided to a prisoner or to a B.cJass prisoner kept in a cell and therefore there was no occasion for the Superintendent to state about matters not complained of.

:ll2 SUPltEME COURT REPORTS (1962') SUPP. 1961 The mere fact tha.t a person is kept in a Rc 11bir Sinth St~gal separate cell will not ma.ke his confinement solitary,

v. cellular or separate, though the difference between Suitt of Punjab it and any of them be not appreciable.

Rog/nJa. D'.1"1 J. Section 27 of the priaous Act provides for

separation of prisoners. If there happens to be only one prisoner of a particular category, he is necessarily to bn kept separate from others. His being kept alone from other prisoners and his not being allowed to mix with other prisoners will not be called solitary or cellular or separate confine-ment. It is just a.n incident that he happens to be the only prisoner of a particular category and had therefore to be kept separated from all other prisoners in the jail.

Section 28 allows convicted criminal prisoners to be confined either in association or individually in cells or partly in one way and partly in the other. The diseretion is with the Superintendent of the J a.ii. The Act contemplates an individual prisoner to be kept in a cell.

It is clear from the provisions of paragraphs 5i l to 575 of the Jail :llanua.l that the rules con-template convicted prisoners to be kept separate. Paragraph :3i I of the Jail Manual provides that all convicts, subject to cell accommodation and requirements of labour, be kept separate both by clay and by night, and justifies the segregation of the appellant as a convicted criminal in a B<'parate cell. Paragraphs 5i2, 573 and 574 lay down the order in which convicted prisoners a.re to be selected for being kept separate in cells when ea.ch of them cannot be so kept. All these provisions a.re consistent with what is enacted in s, 28 of the Prisons Aci ..

Paragraph 5i5 rea.ds:

"A convict who would ordinarily come wider the opl'rntion of any of the preceding

rules relating to the separation of prisoners, 1961 but cannot be confined in a cell by day, by R anbir Singh Sehtal reason that ho is required for some jail service, v. shall be confined in a cell by night. Stttte of PwVab

Note 1-Separation under paragraphs 571 Raghubar Dayal J. to 575 is distinct from 'solitary' confinement and 'separate' confinement inflicted as a puni-shment under section 46 of the Prisons Act, and is restricted merely to the separation of individual prisoners either by day or night for purposes of jail management; such separa-tion is not to have any irksome conditions attached to it.

Note 2-Paragraphs 571 to 575 are of general application. If, in the opinion of the Superintendent, the presence of any convict in association with others, is detrimental to good order and discipline or is likely to encourage or lead to the commission of any offence, such convict should be kept separate, in preference to others of his class."

These provisions provide an exception to the provi-sions of paragraphs ,571 to 574 and allow the convicted prisoner to be kept in a cell during night only instead of both by day and by night, in case he cannot be confined in the cell by day for reasons that he be required for jail service. Note 1 makes it clear that keeping prisoners separate in view of the provisions of paragraphs 571 to 575 is not 'solitary' or 'separate' confinement which can be inflicted as punishment and is merely separation of the prisoner for purposes of jail management.

Further, Note 1 enjoins that no irksome conditions be attached to such separation. We are not shown that any such conditions were attached to the order for keeping the appellant in a cell.

Note 2 further empowers the Superintendent of the Jail to keep a convict separate i£ hr be of opinion that his association with others of his class 1961 is detrimental to good order and discipline in tho Ranbir Singh Sthgal jail. The Superintendent stat('S in his affidavit

Y. that he was of such op in ion.

S1at1 r>.f PllnjaL The entire scheme of tho Act and the rules is Raghubar Da;"O/ J, that ordinarily a prisoner should be kept separated

from others and th'\t it is only in view of limita-tions of providing separate c~lls for <>ach prisoner that prisoners of a particu Jar category are kept together in a large hall. The order classifying the appellant as a B-claBB prisoner further necessitated his being kept separate from other prisoners.

There is no provision in the Act or the rules that a prison<>r kept in a cell be specially allowe<l to associate or mix with other prisoners.

The main grievance of the appellant is that he was not allowed to associste with his co-accused, even for purpose of consultation wil h respect to the defence to be put up and the grounds to be taken in the appeal. The whole object of keeping con-victed prisoners segregated in jail is defeated if they are allowed to meet and discuss matters even when they are under special orders for being kept separate on D ccount of their conduct being considered det-rimental to jail discipline. If it was really necessary for the appellant to have consultations with his co-accused for the purpose of the <',ase, it waa open to him to obtain orders of the Court and facilities for such consultations, if considered necessary, could hnve been given just as facilities are provided for accused to consult their counsel. I am therefore of opinion that tho Jail authorities committed no discriminatory or illegal act against the appellant in keeping him in a separate cell. I would therefore dismiss both the writ petition and the appt•al.

BY CouRT. In accordanc·e with the opinion of the majority, the Writ Petition and the Appeal are allowed to the extent indicated in the majority judgment.

CRIMINAL APPELLATE .JURISDICTION : Criminal Appeal No. 120 of 1961.

Appeal by special leave from the judgment and order <lated March 17, 1961 of the Punjab High Court in Criminal Writ No. 2 of 196 l.

WITH

Petition No. 147 of 1961.

Petition under Art. 32 of the Constitution of India for enforcement of Fundamental Righ.ts.

The appellant/petitioner in person.

H. S. Doabia, AdditiOMl Advocate-General, P·unjab, Gopal Singh and P. D. Menon, for respon-dent (in the appeal and the petition.) .

1961. November 2. The Judgment of Sinha, C. J., Subba Rao, Shah and Mudholkar, JJ., was delivered by Subba Rao, J. Dayal, J. delivered a separate Judgment.

SunBA RAo, J.-Both these matters are Subba Rao J. connected and raise the same questions and they may be disposed of together. '

Ranbir Singh Sehgal, the petitio)ler in the writ petition, is now a prisoner in the Central Jail .Ambala, in the State of Punjab. He was prosecuted for committing offences in different places. On June 13, 1961, he was convicted by the Additional District Magistrate, Amba.la, under s. 5 of the In~ Explosive Substances Act and sentenced to 19CI 5 years rigorous imprisonment and to p&y & fine of /,'111;.'1ir Si11gh Sth$ol Rs. 2,000/·. The petitioner has preferred an appeal

v. against the said conviction an-1 and the S1,,1r flj P1111jab ~en~nce,

said appeal is now pending in tl1c High Court of Punjab. On January :m, 1!161, the Additional Sessions Judge (II), Ambala, convicted the petitioner Wlder ss. 120-B and 399 of the Indian Penal Code and sent.~mced him to 7 years rigorous impri~onment and a fine of Rs. 2,000i-under the former section, and to 5 years rigorous imprisonment and a fine cif Rs. 2,00'.l/- under the latter section. Tlw petitioner preferred an appeal against this conviction and sentence to the High Court of Pm1jab and the same is now pending there. The other cases ar" not disposed of and they are still pending in various courts. The petitioner was arrested by the Ambala police on September 14, 1958, and was detained in police custody for a period of about 8 months, and on. May 'i, l!l59, he was transferred to judicial custody at Ambala. On June 13, l!l60, he was convicted under the Indian Arms Act, and from that date he is in the Central Jail, Ambala, e.s a convicted prisoner. On December 15, 1960, the Governor of Punjab ordered that the petitioner should be ~reated as a 'B' class prisoner. On February 9, 1961, he filed a petition under Art. 226 of the Constitution in the High Court of Punjab at Chandigarh, questioning inter ali11 bis confinement in that prison on the ground that para. 575 of the Punjab Jail Manual whereunder he was confined to a separate cell in the prison, offended Art. 14 of the Constitution, and that in fact discriminatory treat-ment was meted out to him not for the maintenance of disr.ipline but for extraneous reasons. That petition was dismissed by the said High Court on March l 7, llIBI, and Criminal Appeal No. 120 of 1961 was filed against the said order by special leave granted by this Court. That a.part be also filed the present writ petition (Writ Petition No. 147 of 1961) in this Court under Art. :l2 of the Constitution oovering the same ground. The prisoner argued his own case. He raised before us two 1961 points, namely, (I) para. 575 of the Punjab Jail Manual offends Art. 14 of the Constitution in Ra11bir Stngh Sehgat asmuch as it confers arbitrary power on the Superin-Y. Stale of Punjab tendent of Jail to deal with a prisoner under the Subha Rao J. colour of the said provision in a brutal way circum- , venting other stringent provisions of the Prisons Act and other paragraphs of the Punjab Jail Manual conceived in the interest and fair treatment of prisoners, (2) the Superintendent of Jail, for extraneous reasons, on the pretext of disciplinary action, gave him solitary confinement in a cell since the date he was tmnsfcrred to that Jail, and thus acted with rnala /ides: th11.t apart,. he discriminated him in the matter of treatment from other prisoners and even from the co-accused, who were convicted along with him, and t.hus offended Art. 14 of the Constitution.

The first quest.ion falls to be decided on the relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code, tl;o Prisons Act, and the Punjab Jail Manual. There are three types of punishment, namely, (i) solitary confinement, (ii) cellular confinement, and (iii) sepa-rate confinement. Solitary confinement means such confinement with or without labour as entirely secludes the prisoner both from sight of, and communication with, other prisoners. The punish-ment of solitary confinmcnt can be imposed by a court only, and, in view of its dangerous potentiali-ties, stringent conditions are imposed thereon. No person can be sentenced to undergo solitary confine-ment for more than three months. There is a limit prescribed on the punishment of solitary confinement that can be imposed on a prisoner: it shall not exceed (a) one month, ifthe term of imprisonment does not exceed six months, (b) two months, if the term of imprisonment exceeds six months, but does not exceed one year, and (c) three months, if the term exceeds one year: (vide s. 73 of the Indian Penal Code), Section 74 of the Indian Penal Code says,

300 SUPREME C'OURT REPOHTS [1962) SUPP.

1961 "In executing a sentence of solitary cun· },'c;1.lir Singh ._'-'thJ;al fiuement, such confinement hall in nu C"ase

" exceed fourteen days at a tim<.• with intervals St11le of P1mjab beteen the periods of solitary eo11fincmC'11t ,,f