-The Times of India Nine Maoists, including rocket launcher Sadula Ramakrishna, who were granted the status of 'political Prisoners' by a lower court in Kolkata, may soon be stripped of their privileges as the West Bengal government is set to challenge the order in the Supreme Court. Last week, the apex court stayed a Calcutta High Court order giving political Prisoner status to Maoist leader Telugu Dipak, People's Committee against Police Atrocities...

-The Telegraph Sex offenders in Prison often find themselves positioned on the lowest rungs of a hierarchy of inmates, which exposes them to particularly bad treatment from fellow Prisoners, psychologists who have studied jail violence have said. They say the phenomenon is believed to be widespread and, in some countries, has prompted law-enforcement authorities to segregate sex offenders from other inmates in Prisons where they are viewed as vulnerable to physical attacks. Delhi...

-The Hindu Whether it is suicide or homicide, the death of Ram Singh — the main accused in the Delhi rape case of December 2012 — inside Tihar Jail is a damning indictment of the functioning of the Prison authorities. There were warning signals, early on. Ram Singh and the other accused were put on special watch, or suicide watch, after they stopped interacting with other inmates. But despite the checks...

-Economic and Political Weekly An analysis of the study of Maharashtra Prisons commissioned by the state's Minorities Commission finds an over-representation of Muslims in jails. A clear link is established between the criminal justice system and discrimination faced by this minority. This study points to the need for State and non-State institutions to address the marginalisation faced by Muslims which leads to such discrimination. For more, please click here   ...

-The Hindu Verdict wrongly held that even terror activities would amount to political movement: West Bengal The Supreme Court has stayed a Calcutta High Court judgment directing West Bengal to treat arrested members of the banned Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) as “political Prisoners” by declaring the outfit a “political movement.” A Bench of Justices Aftab Alam and Ranjana Desai was acting on the State government’s appeal challenging the rationale of the August...