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Jharkhand High Court
Court On Its Own Motion vs The State Of Jharkhand on 13 April, 2026
Author: Rajesh Shankar
Bench: Rajesh Shankar
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JHARKHAND AT RANCHI
W.P.(PIL) No. 2273 of 2026
Court on its own Motion
Versus
The State of Jharkhand ... ... ... Respondent
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CORAM: HON'BLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE RAJESH SHANKAR
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For the State: Mr. Piyush Chitresh, A.C. to A.G.
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02/Dated: 13.04.2026
1. Mr. Piyush Chitresh learned A.C. to A.G., at our request,
appears on behalf of the State.
2. This is a suo motu writ petition, in the nature of a continuing
mandamus, in accordance with the judgment and order dated
26.02.2026, issued by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Writ
Petition (C) No. 1082 of 2020.
3. The operative portion of the above judgment and order, as
contained under the caption of "Compliance and Monitoring", is
transcribed below for the convenience of reference:-
"F. Compliance and Monitoring
It is evident that the directions issued by this Court vide
order dated 8th May, 2018 in In Re: Inhuman
Conditions in 1382 Prisons have not, thus far, yielded
any meaningful or positive results. In order to ensure that
the present judgment does not suffer the same fate, it is
imperative to exhort the High Courts to assume an active
role in overseeing and ensuring effective implementation
of the directions issued herein. With the aforesaid
objective in view, we proceed to issue the following
directions: -
(i) For ongoing compliance and monitoring, all the
High Courts are directed to register a suo motu writ
petition, as a continuing mandamus, for the
purpose of monitoring compliance with the present
judgment within their respective jurisdictions,
particularly with respect to the establishment,
functioning and expansion of OCIs.
(ii) To facilitate effective implementation at the
executive level, every State and Union Territory
shall constitute a Monitoring Committee for the
Management of OCIs, to be headed by the
Executive Chairman of the State Legal Services
Authority or his nominee ( including a former Judge
of the High Court), with the following Members:-
a. Home Secretary of the State/Union Territory ( or
his nominee not below the rank of Additional
Secretary); and
b. A senior officer of the Prisons Department not
below the rank of Deputy Inspector General, to
be nominated by the Home Department of the
State or Union Territory.
(iii) Where the Chairperson of the Monitoring
Committee is a nominee of the Executive Chairman
of the State Legal Services Authority, such
nominee shall be entitled to appropriate
remuneration and logistical support, as may be
determined by the Executive Chairman, State
Legal Services Authority in consultation with the
State Government.
(iv) The State Monitoring Committees shall be
responsible for :-
a. Ensuring compliance with the directions issued
by this Court;
b. Overseeing the utilization, functioning and
expansion of OCIs;
c. Facilitating the time identification and transfer of
eligible prisoners from closed prisons to OCIs;
and
d. Periodically reviewing progress and addressing
systemic impediments in the implementation of
the directions issued by this Court.
(v) Each State and Union Territory shall constitute the
aforesaid Committee within a period of four weeks
from the date of this judgment.
(vi) The State Committees shall submit status reports
to the concerned High Court on regular quarterly
intervals, detailing the steps taken towards
compliance with the directions issued herein, the
utilization and expansion of OCIs, and any
difficulties encountered in implementation of the
directions issued by this Court. The first such
status report shall be placed on record before the
concerned High Court on or before 21st August,
2026.
(vii) The High Courts, through their respective Registrar
General, shall compile and forward consolidated
report to this Court once every year, summarizing
the compliance status of States and Union
Territories, progress achieved, best practices
identified, and persistent gaps requiring policy or
executive intervention. The first such consolidated
annual report shall be placed on record before this
Court on or before 31st March, 2027.
This multi-tiered monitoring mechanism ensures
institutional accountability, continuous judicial
oversight, and effective translation of constitutional
directives into operational outcomes, thereby
preventing stagnation in implementation and
reinforcing the transformative objectives of this
judgment."
4. Further, in terms of above referred judgment and order, and to
facilitate effective implementation at the executive level, we
direct the State of Jharkhand to constitute a Monitoring
Committee for management of Operational Correctional
Institutes (OCIs) to be headed by the Executive Chairperson of
the State Legal Services Authority or his nominee (including a
former Judge of the High Court), with the following members:-
a. Home Secretary of the State (or his nominee not below the
rank of Additional Secretary); and
b. A senior officer of the Prisons Department not below the
rank of Deputy Inspector General, to be nominated by the
Home Department of the State.
5. As indicated above, the Monitoring Committee for the
management of OCIs must be constituted within four weeks
from today.
6. Before this date, the State, through its Home Secretary, must
file a compliance report, inter alia, reporting compliance with the
constitution of the Monitoring Committee, indicating the status
of OCIs in the State of Jharkhand, and furnishing all details
regarding their management and functioning to date. The
affidavit must also indicate the feasibility of having more than
one OCI in Jharkhand.
7. We post this petition for further consideration on 11.06.2026 at
2:15 p.m.
8. The registry is to immediately furnish the relevant case papers
to Mr. Piyush Chitresh, learned A.C. to A.G.
(M. S. Sonak, C.J.)
(Rajesh Shankar, J.)
April 13, 2026
Manoj/Sharda/Cp.1
