Assam Prisons Act, 2013
No: 15 Dated: May, 30 2013
THE ASSAM PRISONS ACT, 2013
ASSAM ACT NO. XV OF 2013
An Act to consolidate the laws relating to prisons and persons detained therein in the State of Assam
Preamble:- Whereas it is expedient to consolidate the existing law relating to prisons and persons detained therein to ensure humane care and to protect the human rights of the offenders as well as other persons committed to prisons; and
to provide correctional treatment and guidance to the offenders committed to prisons so as to facilitate their rehabilitation as law-abiding, responsible and useful members of society; and
to provide statutory support and guidelines for pursuing the humanitarian, correctional and rehabilitative objectives of the prison organization in the State of Assam;
It is hereby enacted in the Sixty - fourth Year of the Republic of India as follows : -
CHAPTER-I
Preliminary
1. Short title, extent and commencement. - (1) This Act may be called the Assam Prisons Act, 2013.
(2) It extends to the whole of the State of Assam.
(3) It shall come into force on such date as the State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint.
2. Definitions. - In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, -
(1) "State" means the State of Assam;
(2) "State Government" means the Government of Assam;
(3) "appropriate Government" in relation to suspension, remission or commutation of sentence means-
(a) in cases where the sentence is by a Court Martial, the Central Government or any officer of the Armed Forces of the Union empowered under any law in force to suspend, remit or commute a sentence passed by a Court Martial; and
(b) in cases where the sentence is by a Court other than a Court Martial, -
(i) if the sentence is of death or is for an offence against any law relating to a matter to which the executive power of the Union extends, the Central Government; and
(ii) if the sentence, whether of death or not, is for an offence against any law relating to a matter to which the executive power of the State extends, the Government of the State or Union Territory within which the sentence is passed;
(4) "court" includes any officer or authority empowered to commit a person to prison by any writ, warrant or order under any law in force including any law providing for preventive detention;
(5) "prison", which is synonymous with "jail", means an institution established and so declared under section 3 for the detention and correctional treatment of offenders and for the detention of such other persons as may be committed to custody under any law, but does not include -
(a) any place used or appointed for the detention of persons exclusively in the custody of the police;
(b) any place specially appointed by the State Government under section 417 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973;
(c) any institution established under the Assam Borstal Institution Act, 1968;
(d) any institution established or certified or recognized under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000.
(6) "central jail" means a class of prison meant for centralised detention and correctional treatment of offenders sentenced to relatively long terms of imprisonment and also for detention of such other class or classes of persons as specified by rules made under this Act and orders made under such rules;
(7) "district jail" means a class of prison meant for detention of all classes of persons committed by the Courts of a district or a sub-division thereof;
(8) "sub-jail", which is synonymous with "subsidiary jail", means a class of prison meant for detention of undertrial persons committed by the Courts of a district or a sub-division thereof;
(9) "special jail" means a class of prison meant for detention of such class or classes of persons as specified by rules made under this Act and orders made under such rules;
(10) "open jail" means a class of prison with a demarcated periphery but without any high enclosure wall and meant for detention of offenders sentenced to relatively long terms of imprisonment, after satisfactorily serving a part of such imprisonment in closed prisons, with a view to developing their sense of responsibility, selfdiscipline and self-esteem prior to release from prison;
(11) "offence" means an act or omission punishable under any law in force;
(12) "offender" means a person convicted of any offence;
(13) "prison offence" means such act or omission on the part of an inmate as specified in section 70 and made punishable under section 71 and sub-section (1) of section 74;
(14) "inmate" means a person detained in prison under the writ, warrant or order of any Court;
(15) "adult inmate" means an inmate who has attained the age of twenty-one years;
(16) "adolescent inmate" means an inmate who has attained the age of eighteen years, but has not attained the age of twenty-one years;
(17) "convicted inmate" means an inmate under a sentence of death or imprisonment imposed on conviction by a Court exercising criminal jurisdiction or by a Court Martial, and includes a person committed to prison in default of furnishing security to keep the peace or be of good behaviour under section 122 of Chapter VIII of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, or in default of payment of maintenance under section 125 of Chapter IX of the said Code;
(18) "undertrial inmate" means a person accused of an offence and committed to prison by a Court exercising criminal jurisdiction or by a Court Martial pending the investigation, inquiry or trial of such offence;
(19) "civil inmate" means a person committed to prison by a Court exercising civil jurisdiction or by an officer under any law relating to recovery of public demands;
(20) "detenu" means a person committed to prison under any law providing for preventive detention;
(21) "inmate of unsound mind" means -
(a) a person accused of an offence, who is alleged to be of unsound mind and is committed to prison under section 328 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 pending medical examination, or
(b) a person accused of an offence, who is found to be of unsound mind and consequently incapable of making his defence and is committed to prison under section 330 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 for safe custody, or
(c) a person acquitted of an offence on grounds of unsoundness of mind, who is committed to prison under section 335 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 for safe custody, or
(d) a convicted inmate who is found to be of unsound mind;
(22) "separate confinement" means such confinement as secludes an inmate from communication with, but not from the sight of, other inmates, and allows him not less than one hour's exercise per day and to have his meals in association with one or more other inmates;
(23) "imprisonment" includes imprisonment for life;
(24) "imprisonment for life" means imprisonment for the entire life of the person under sentence of imprisonment for life, unless such sentence is remitted earlier by the appropriate Government;
(25) "prohibited article" means an article, the introduction or removal of which into or out of a prison is prohibited by any rule made under this Act;
(26) "history ticket" means the ticket exhibiting such information in respect of an inmate as is specified under this Act or prescribed by rules made thereunder;
(27) "remission" means a concession granted under the provisions of section 65 to a convicted inmate, as a consequence of which the sentence of imprisonment, except where the sentence is one of imprisonment for life, of the inmate is shortened;
(28) "furlough" means the temporary conditional release of a convicted inmate on leave or on emergency grounds granted under the provisions of section 66;
(29) "parole" means the premature conditional release of a convicted inmate granted under the provisions of section 67;
(30) "day-release" means conditional release of a convicted inmate during the day time granted under the provisions of section 68;
(31) "Inspector General" means the Inspector General of Prisons, Assam;
(32) "Superintendent" means the Superintendent of a prison;
(33) "Medical Officer" means a Doctor appointed as Medical Officer of a prison;
(34) "officer of a prison" means an officer appointed under section 8;
(35) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this Act;
(36) "section" means section of this Act.
(37) the word "he" and its derivatives shall be construed to mean any person, whether male or female;
(38) words and expressions used in this Act and not defined herein but defined in the Indian Penal Code, 1860 and the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 shall have the same meanings as assigned to them in the said Codes.