The Madras High Court on Wednesday, February 25, held that persons lodged in state prisons are entitled to periodic medical check-ups as part of their right to life under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution.
A bench comprising Justices GR Swaminathan and R Kalaimathi of the Madurai Bench observed that prisoners remain under the care and custody of the state and that persons with disabilities are entitled to reasonable accommodation.
The court directed the Superintendent of Palayamkottai Central Prison to conduct a master health check-up for all inmates once every two years. It also ordered that an immediate medical camp be organised for the prisoners.
“A prisoner is also a person. He is entirely in the care, custody and control of the prison authorities. They therefore have to assume the duty to be reasonably accommodative towards the special needs of prisoners with disabilities,” the court noted, according to a LiveLaw report.
The order came on a petition filed by M Kalaiselvi, who sought 28 days’ ordinary leave for her father, a life convict lodged at Palayamkottai Central Prison. She moved the court after her father’s right leg was amputated due to diabetes-related complications while in prison. He has served over six years of his sentence.
The bench observed that the amputation might have been avoided had his condition been diagnosed in time and managed with appropriate treatment and diet during incarceration.
The High Court also referred to a precedent laid down by the Supreme Court of India in the Muruganantham case, which held that reasonable accommodation is not optional in a just prison system.
Further, the court directed the Dean of Tirunelveli Government Medical College and Hospital to organise a medical camp in the prison to identify inmates requiring treatment for diabetes. It ordered that identified prisoners be provided appropriate care, including insulin, and that their diets be suitably modified.
The court granted the 28-day leave sought in the petition and directed the prisoner to report to the police every Thursday during the leave period.